To try out the Yokomo BX I took it to Kidderminster 4WD National, the first National of the year.  I made a couple of errors to begin with, these were mainly down to trying to run 2 cars in the one day. I'd intended to run the Kyosho ZX-5 early on in practice and the first heat to get used to the track and put a time down with the Lazer, I managed to totally miss practice due to a comedy of errors.

I ended up running the Lazer in the first 2 qualifiers with disastrous results, I had problems with the LRP Quantum, since replaced under warranty, which lead to qualifying in the bottom final. For the 3rd Qualifier I got the first taste of the Yokomo, unfortunately rain had come over just before this round and my tyres were wrong.  The car was nearly spot on in the handling department though, over the bumpy undulating Kidderminster track it seemed to be almost glued to the track, the BX suspension soaking everything up and jumping in a predictable and stable manner. The tyres were wrong though and I was slow around the corners.

Skies were blue and sunny for my fourth and final qualifier, I needed a really good run to place in a respectable final, unfortunately once again the weather changed, this time only seconds before the start, and the track was white with hail for my run.   I started the heat but retired after one lap as there was no way to improve and I was just wrecking the car.

I had my worst ever qualifying at a national, not due to the BX which I had only had one real run with.    So I lined up 10th on the grid in the K final, one place off being in the bottom final, not a good day at all.

I changed the springs to what the team drivers had been running, AE green rear and Blue front and set the centre one-way to 50% slip going by Paul Bradbys setting which felt better. The car was great and I threaded my way around first couple of corners up to 4th position and stayed there biding my time for 3 laps right behind the 3 leaders.  After a crash I was up to 2nd right behind the leader when on lap 4 the leader had to go in for a stop-go penalty, where I took the lead and pulled away from the field to win by 6 seconds.   I could have done better but I just wanted to finish the race without mistake to make up for a poor weekends results.

I was really happy with the BX in the final, I needed more speed and I was still getting used to it, but it was noticable how easy to drive the car was and how well it went over the bumps.

The small track time wasn't really enough so the following weekend I went to southport.  It was a much nicer day,  warm, sunny and dry.   I raced the Kyosho ZX5 again for 3 rounds, setting a decent time.   In round 4 I went out with the BX, the car, on almost new tyres, was a handful to be honest, it was very edgy indeed and wanted to tip on most corners.  I had
to tip-toe around some parts of the track but others, where I could push the car, it was amazing.
It really shined over the bumps and felt predictable and just "right" when nailing it around corners.  The bumpy back section at southport was the only area I was really faster than people, I seemed to be able to push a little harder without fear of the car being thrown around. I was shocked to see I'd actually gone faster with the BX so decided to run it in the final also.

I didn't know a setup for the Southport track so I laid the shocks down all round and stiffened the front oil to reduce roll a little.  The car wasn't perfect but it was a lot better than before and I could push it harder.  I didn't have a great final, managing to hit Matt Dodd, at speed in the ankle as he was marshalling another car. The BX switched off for a few seconds before coming back to life.  I was well down the field but it was my own fault.

Overall I was really pleased with the BX on the track, it went over the rough really well and felt quite dialled.  The belt drive and excellent slipper combined to make the car forgiving and not too agressive.  I can't really describe the feel of the car other than say it was familiar and just plain "nice" to drive.  If I could have had more time to dial out the steering at Southport I think it would have been really spot on..

I'm not very familiar with Kidderminster or Southport tracks, It would have been nice to get the BX around my local track, Batley, for some testing to get a real feel for the car on a track I know. But unfortunately I didn't get chance during the review.

After 2 race meetings with a total of 4/5 runs and a couple of trips to a local quarry for photos (where most of the dirt was gained) I decided to have a proper look over the car. 

The first thing I noticed was that despite the thread lock used during the building of the UJ’s, both rear pins had backed half way out and were not far from failing, lucky I caught this, possibly best to degrease these parts in motor spray before assembly to ensure the thread lock can get a proper hold.

The 4 rear most screws on the main chassis plate which hold the rear suspension plate on, had a little bit of rust around the edges.  There must have been a small amount of water in this area stuck between the chassis and under tray, which I could not get access to to dry off properly, no big deal- I oiled the screws and they look new. But its something to watch if you run the car in wet conditions, with Ti screws there would be no real problem here.

Looking thru the rear lexan diff covers there didn’t seem to be much dirt in there but on inspecting the diff it was quite well coated in dust and the pulley had compressed dirt in a couple of the teeth, it didn’t seem to effect freeness and the diff seemed quite smooth despite the dust on the outside.  There was a small amount of dust in both the thrust race (no dust shield is provided) and the main diff balls.

It has to be said, I drove the car where no one usually would race, with plenty of dust, but I have seen plenty of tracks like this where dirt / grass areas have dried, so its quite likely a full days racing on a similarly dusty track could require a full rebuild to clean the drive train.