To try out the X-5 I went along to the National Indoor Finals, held at the Batley Buggy Club indoor venue.  The surface consisted of polished floor, carpet, mats and a large double jump.

In the morning I finished off the car, and mounted the receiver ariel at the rear of the car using an alloy mount.  I missed the first practice, in the second practice session I went out for the first drive of the car, It was pretty clear that the car was under-geared  (12 turn on a 17 pinion) so top speed was a bit lacking, I was also finding it very hard to do the large double, there was a small bump before the take off which was unsettling the car and the car wasn't able to get up enough speed to clear the jump.  I had plenty of crashes in this first practice but but the car held up well.

I changed the gearing by going to a 19 pinion, probably still slightly under geared but a lot better speed.  I also raised the car a little to cope with the bumps better.
The first run out was a lot better, after a few laps I got into the feel of the X-5 but it was still slow compared to other cars, it just felt sluggish like there was loads of friction (which there wasn't). I discovered the rear diff had loosened off so set that right.

run 2 was my best run, I changed to worn old mini spike tyres which gave more grip than the shiney new ones from the practice and first round.  the car was really good, I was able to throw it around the track nicely and it took the bumps and jumps perfectly, the car was still not as punchy as I like but it the handling was great.

Run 3, I changed the shocks to inside on the wishbones all round, for more grip, and put softer pink springs in place of red on the rear to try and balance the front and rear grip. Again was really good, I got up to 1st for a short while until I heard that fact over the speakers and lost my cool. I was really impressed by the car at this point, for my first race, indeed first drive of the car, it was going really well.

In the last qualifier I set off and was on great pace for about a lap before the rear diff gave way and I had barely any acceleration at all, I just played round for a few minutes thinking it was the slipper too loose.

I qualified 3rd in the E final, which isn't bad for a first go with the car and along side similar ability drivers, If i'd had more time to sort the diff and slipper settings then im sure I would have been in the final above.
 From the start I got straight into 2nd and was quite confident in being on pace to win but after a few corners I realised something wasn't right and the back end was just too loose, I think the rear diff was set a little too tight (just to be sure) and the back end was loose because of this and breaking away too much when I pushed it.
I was quite gutted as I kept slipping places when I got out of shape on the corners, the diff change (and tighten) had unbalanced the car.

Overall, I have to say despite the small problems with the rear diff (not X Factorys fault), I was really very impressed by the car.  John price is racing the car during the upcoming national series and we'll be long term testing the cars performance, and I have to say after racing the car for the first time I wish I were racing it instead of him, It really is a good car on the track, it seemed a little more direct than the XX4 from which it takes the suspension, but still very forgiving.  It handled the bumps well and flew the jumps very well indeed.

Dan Greenwood at the indoor finals