Review underway

[jimmy]

X10 review to come soon, it seems to be a car that people love or hate so should be an interesting one.

I've already formed a few opinions that I hope might get changed on the build up and test.

[professionalracing]

Hi Jimmy. Now remember please keep an open mind when you tackle the Predator review, as with so many things in life nothing is ever perfect and our unqualified expectations coupled with miss information can sometimes hide things that are really good, now I am not just saying this because we, that is professional racing are running a Predator it the fact that we are still running a Predator, get my point. Anyway if you need any factual information give me a call.

[jimmy]

No worries peter, I was on a downer about it on sunday but stripping it down ive seen a lot of good stuff and some not quite so good, but i'll certainly be fair.
Just waiting on a couple of things at the moment, some new o rings and could do with getting that bearing you mentioned while im at it, to include that as your guest tip! :P what was the size again ?

Richard likes the site and has promised to answer some questions i've given him about the car.

[Bathy]

One thing I’d like to know Jimmy is why so many people suffer from stripping gears with this car, let us know if your car suffers from this issue.

Are there really so many people out there who are unable to mesh the gears properly or is it a car design error which is causing problems?

[jimmy]

Talking to people like peter moss (pro racing) and others, there seems to be a few small design errors, none of which from my understanding cant be overcome.
The main problem is, from what I've learnt, the shaft/spur moving away from the motor under (can be greatly reduced with an extra ballrace), and the spur material and tooth profile.
Ive not built or raced mine yet but thats what Ive been shown and seen for myself.
Most cars have a bearing support, and/or some way of tieing the centre shaft to the motor mount so the mesh cant alter..
The pred shaft is only supported at each end in the gearbox with 1 bearing.

[Northy]

Jimmy, if you need any help (or parts) just give me a shout!

Cheers,

G

[andys]

Now then Jimmy, about this review.

I agree with Peter, you need to remain impartial. I sort of wish I had bought mine rather than cancelling it at the last minute, but then again I'm glad I got the ZX5 instead as it's brilliant.... and I could have 2 for the price of the Pred.

So with that in mind, I would suggest you review it based on the experiences of the average Pred purchaser, i'm aware you got your 2nd hand so you probably haven't parted with as much cash as most Pred owners will have done, this has a huge bearing on an opinion of a car (in my opinion !)

So for the purpose of the review, put yourself in Mr averages shoes and take the angle that :

a: You waited around half a year (or more...) for the car after paying your initial deposit
b: You paid out around £400 for the car and the spares pack, the most expensive off raod car available !
c: You stripped the spur on your first run and couldn't get a spare for a while
d: It's got a few obvious flaws in the basic design that a new Pred owner wouldn't know how to overcome without help.

Still be impartial, but bear these things in mind. Don't get me wrong, i love the car and I still want one, just not sure personally that I would be able to get along with it from what i've seen so far considering the cost of the kit.

[PaulRotheram]

Guys, i think jimmy is more than capable of producing a great review for the x10, as he did for the zx5.......

[Anonymous]

I'm also sure that jimmy will produce a great review. I was just pointing out that the car should be reviewed not from jimmy's perspective of 'his' 2nd hand car, or from other people experiences, but from that of a 1st time purchaser who has paid top dollar for the kit. To that end I will be interetsed to see if jimmy decides to tackle the question of value for money and relaiability ?

[DCM]

Would also be interesting to see where the 'modifications' have gone to and some detailed pics, shame he doesn't have a P8 to compare to....

[Northy]

I could lend him one if he wanted....

[DCM]

Could be an interesting concept, as we all know that the P8 had some, erm, directional strength ares (I am trying to be nice about it, lol), to show how TTech have gone about improving to remove them flaws.

and then a good THRASH TEST!!!

[Northy]

To be perfectly honest my P8 has been supper reliable and I was still racing it upto getting the X10!

[Southwell]

Originally Posted by Bathy

One thing I’d like to know Jimmy is why so many people suffer from stripping gears with this car, let us know if your car suffers from this issue.

Are there really so many people out there who are unable to mesh the gears properly or is it a car design error which is causing problems?

In my experience when i ran an ETQ it was the crown wheel and pinion not being shimmed properly, many people shimmed them with 1 or 2 washers, well i was using 5-6, never stripped any after i did this and after 5 mins run in the car still ran perfectly free (as per info i was given by mick cragg a number of years ago)

[jimmy]

just waiting on a gearbox top being replaced at the moment which was leading, i guess, to the rockers colliding.

[jimmy]

I was up till 5am building the car so i could take it to bury metro today so i was gonna race it rain or shine... unfortunately it was rain..
The car fell apart twice due to either poor prep or dodgy components, I did put quicker laps in than with my zx5 but to be honest it did have brand new greens on.
Wasnt expecting much but the car handled very well and took the bury bumps and jumps very well indeed. I didnt get the setup right but it was "ok", off the line in the final it definately looked to have an advantage in acceleration over the 2 XX4's that out qualified me.

i was, impressed-ish.

[Oscar]

I should hope you did have more acceleration, I was running a 13x1 on cells which are over 2 years old :shock:

[jimmy]

shame it broke.. it felt reet good in that final, for those first 3 corners.

[strobe]

T/Tech have updated some of the key areas of concern on the X10. In the new year T/Tech will also have different rate springs and ceramic/Stainless Bearings available.
The Steel steering link is a must as well as the Pinion Gear Collars and the Motor Mount Disk.

[jimmy]

I tried to mention some of this stuff in the review, the bearing mod that Peter Hulme Moss showed me is better than the collars that TTech have on offer.

The review is now LIVE so ave a look, spent bloooody ages on it, possibly went a bit over the top.. but there ya go, i dont do stuff by halves.

http://www.oople.com/rc/photos/reviewx10/index.html