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Long Term Test: John Price - Kidderminster -

The X-5 has been around a while now and slowly gained a following for its XX4-like rough track handling and XXX4-like speed. I mention those two cars as the X-5 is like a combination of the two and uses the entire Losi XX4 suspension package and a similar single belt drive train to the Losi XXX4.

The X-5 was initially available as a conversion for the losi XX4 it is now available as a full kit but the easiest and cheapest way into X-5 ownership is still the conversion from XX4 as these can be bought fairly cheaply. The conversion is what wehave for review here.

The X-5 conversion kit comes in a tiny box, smaller than the average shoe box.
Inside you are first greeted by a personalised introduction sheet along with the manual.
The largest and most prominent parts are of course the large moulded chassis and the body shell.  These are accompanied by a range of small bags which are Lettered A, B, C and so on to go along with the various stages in the X-5 Build.

The first part of the manual describes, in depth, the disassembly of the XX4 donor car, for anyone familiar with the XX4 this might not seem a worth while addition and could be skipped.  The XX4 Disassembly instructions do however give tips on which parts to set aside and which parts to leave partially assembled to make reassembly on the X-5 both quick and easy.

There are of course parts of the disassembly instructions which are beyond the obvious and wander into the realm of belly-laughs, but some people MIGHT throw out their Speed Controller and cells if not for the helpful hints so it is worth reading. All Joking aside re: the disassembly instructions, it’s wise to follow them carefully.  

The XX4 I chose to use for the conversion is owned by a fellow “Team oOple” driver and friend, John Price.  The XX4 up for conversion is in quite good mechanical condition, but not the prettiest looking car.

 Along with the mostly complete car I also obtained a range of new parts to make the X-5 as new as possible.
These included newer parts such as the white front bulkhead, threaded shock bodies and gold shafts, white super-duty ball ends, Mip shiny front CVD’s and a selection of other parts to update and restore the car.

Overall the car was in fair shape, not quite to worlds edition spec and quite dirty, but thats all that is needed for the X5 Conversion, this is certainly the cheapest route to X5 ownership.

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