Just a few of my comments, having been an X-5 owner. I wouldn't normally slate a company on a public forum, but it seems everyone is either slating or getting behind the company here, so I'll add my experiences.
The X-5 is by far, the worst quality kit I have had. I bought the whole X-5 car new, not a XX4 and a conversion kit.
In my opinion, the Losi and X-Factory parts were poor. Losi wishbones, Losi shock towers (not where they were dremeled), even down to snapping Losi roll pins in the wheel. X-factory pulleys were garbage - the gates on the sides of the pulleys fell off - though granted, Chris and Dan were a great help when I asked their advice, and they said they'd not seen it happen before.
Its just all the little things that added up, like the screws that tapped into the chassis to keep the bottom cover on stripped too easily.
As for general transmission, on high grip astro or grass, I got lots of belt skip, where I even had to revert to my CAT 2000 as the transmission in the cat seemed more apt at handling high grip with a 4.5 brushless.
I think you've got to admit it isnt the best quality car, but it does handle well.
I am now running a Tamiya TRF501X. The quality is so much better, it makes the X-5 look like something someone made in the garden shed. The parts are cheaper (from Brock Models in the UK) Spur gear is £3.50 compared to the X-Factory one which is over £10.
The $->£ thing doesnt work with me I'm afraid, but thats more the UK importers than anything else, dont blame the gvmt for it all, as just look at the price of the Tamiya spares I have just mentioned.
I didn't have a problem with having to dremel the pieces, infact I used a hand file. I expected this when I purchased the kit, however if someone bought the kit and didnt know this, I can see where they may be disappointed with the build.
I would even say the X-5 was of poorer quality than the old cars sitting on my shelf, inc Lazer ZXR, CAT 2000 etc., but it is a lot quicker round a track.
In the end I ditched it because of running costs and reliability, X-Factory's and Losi parts. The X-factory UK drivers are a top lot, and willing to help with the car, but it was the product itself, not the service that made me go elsewhere.
I don't usually have DNF's at meetings, but I had more DNF's with the X-factory car than all other races put together.
The Tamiya is just as quick as the X factory, but a lot cheaper to run, and is higher quality, doesn't break by just looking at it, so I'll stick with that.
Let's be fair though:
X-5 - what is good about it:
Its quick, someone else described it as a hover craft over bumps.
The shocks are good.
The Bearings are good.
The service at Lesro, X-Factory, and from Chris and Dan is very high - probably better than most others.
The belt is good
The Lesro One way unit is very good.
Its unique - lets not see a field full of B44's this year please!
On use of the forum, I believe people who have experienced the products should be able to voice their opinions of products, let's respect each others opinions.
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