47th Shizuoka Hobby Show 2008
 

Here are some first views of the new Kyosho ZX5 FS and Hotbodies D4 Sport. http://teamnovi.blog.drecom.jp/

The new Kyosho ZX5 FS uses a different layout to the prototype mid-motor cars used at the World Championships in 2007. The motor has moved far forward - similar to the Atomic Carbon S4 and Atomised B44 chassis. It also looks like Kyosho tried to make this car relatively narrow - a low profile servo being a clue. And whilst those cars were carbon fibre - this production car uses a moulded composite material.


http://blog.drecom.jp/teamnovi/img/5...1514330000.jpghttp://blog.drecom.jp/teamnovi/img/5...1511080001.jpg

The D4 Sport accepts a stick pack across the chassis - though it's not entirely clear how the drive to the rear is acheived! We'll see - but it looks firmly aimed at the beginner market, something the sport desperately needs.

See more photos on the Team Novi blog here: http://teamnovi.blog.drecom.jp/

I reckon they have drilled a hole through the stick pack on the D4 for the shaft to go through :lol:

Trivial I know, but I am so glad Kyosho have used a moulded chassis! :thumbsup: Top plate looks prime target for the Atomic Carbon treatment aswell.;)

this is the car from the Worlds that I mentioned - so you can see the layout is different. The weight on this new car is further spread out and more toward the front - which I guess in theory will make it turn a little slower because of the intertia, but make it more stable?
I wish I could say this car will be popular but Kyosho haven't been proactive in off road at all - instead losing the momentum they had when hitting the scene again back in 2005.

http://www.oople.com/rc/photos/world...s/OOP_8970.jpg

Another photo:

http://www.yaggy.jp/modules/wordpres...515_zx5_FS.JPG

Source: http://www.yaggy.jp

Fingers crossed, with the release of the new platform, Kyosho might want to support a UK factory team!

I very much hope so but I won't be holding my breath :lol:

wonder if the driveshaft is set right next to the chassis floor on the hb?

Nice car, the Lazer, BUT I am now considering to buy an Xray touring car, for I know it will at least be the current model for one year, not only a few months...:thumbdown:.

Markus Schmidt
prospective CAT SX buyer

...and of course the plastic HB is also very nice!

Must just sneak over the top somehow - where's Skelding when you need to quiz him.

Right behind you, Jimmy!:woot:

i dont get this why where the kyosho team testing this car in carbon chassis and whats the point of releasing them in plastic :confused: i did hear after the worlds the team drivers that where racing these cars such as mark pavidis had to take it back to the factory for some more testing and working on the car so the FS could be a good car

Well I am a bit surprised. I dont like shaft drives but i would buy either one of those cars. The Lazer, well I think it actually is more balanced than the other versions and a bit of thought has gone into it - well done, its about time Kyosho. Also HB is stunning as well. What to buy when I have the cash.........

then again it cant to bad right even though i dnt like kyosho as much they havnt made a big impact in off road like jimmy said

looking at the HB, is seems the spur gear sits pretty high, which may just give the right amount of clearance on the battery with an angled center driveshat....

The Kyosho has just move the slipper to the front and my just release a little more chassis real estate up for mounting electrics easier.

Simple answer, it's a lot easier to cut carbon sheet to play around with different layouts than it is to mould a tub for each idea they come up with. Layout not right, just cut another chassis.


When it comes to production if you can afford the investment it works out a lot cheaper to mould tubs than have every chassis cut from carbon, especially as a moulded tub can be stiffer and stronger than carbon sheet with the right material.

i think what he means terry is why do all the testing on a completely different handling chassis than the final product

Hi Terry,

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Very good answer!!!!! I don't know you but you say some good.

John

:woot: lololololol........... Wait & See!

Hi Scouser,

I reply to you but also for all others who want to know.

Actually Kyosho UK would like to have Team Drivers in all classes and be a leader in each but sometimes things do not happen like we would have liked.

Kyosho UK boyz are pur competitors and are really close to the racing scene so we always think about it and we will continue to think about it. But like any competitor we know what must be done and what we can't do. Kyosho UK won't never accept to support any driver if we are considering the actual platform (kit) not good enought to win and offer a wide range of chance to the racer, which is the case of the actual Lazer ZX5.

It's not good to offer sponsorship or hire drivers if they are going to struggle with your car...... A brand can take this risk only in classes that offer a wide and high range of image or exposure and that you can't be missing like in 1/8 Rallycross. UK competition scene offer a very good level in general and even higher in EP. Therefore we did not take any risk as we are too new on this market and we have not enought history to make the correct choices.

Maybe in 2009, we will act differently because we are getting more popular in UK, the brand is strong enought and we are getting more familiar with racers name and result whatever their classes.

At the moment it's a hard time on the racing scene but we keep strong and continue our hard work to stay at the highest level. I trust in this new kit because there is a big and friendship team at Kyosho who aim to win and want to win everytime. So just wait and see........I will always recognize better the face of the racer who trusted in the Lazer ZX5 when it was hard to stay on the top.......than the face of the racer who bashed and gone elsewhere just because a Kit or a deal was not good enought......

Stay tuned as the new Lazer ZX5 FS should be there quiet soon.

Thank you,

yeah ok kyosho have gone all out on this FS but still i would prefer the carbon kit if i was to buy a kyosho id rather fancy the carbon fs. A mate of mine bought a sp and is going back to associated because the spares are just hard to get hold of he said Now i cant fault him there
but with all due respect as far as the kyosho goes the part just let it down

I am suprised to read that you didn't consider the ZX-5 chassis strong enough to support for team drivers. It is the current North west regional champion and looks a good bet to retain its title in the hands of one Mr Weldon. The funny thing is, the battery layout was one of the cars major discussion points. Many felt that the balance was off with too much weight being down one side. I reckon it is a safe bet that Li-Po batteries will be allowed next year and the lighter cells will make the balance of the 'old' style ZX-5 pretty much spot on!
Vinny, where was your mate looking for his spares? DMS and plenty of other online retailers will get them through your door next day!

JonBoy, would you happen to know if any of the new platform is Mr Losi jnrs design? Also, any idea on a release date?

didnt ask him about the it to much but he said hes happy with associated and he sticking with them hes got the b44 and said it way better than the sp i cnt say anything there cos i havnt driven any one of those but i would put my money on the associated if u go at any national thers a good chance of getting parts straight away with kyosho its hard thers not many racers with spares

This car (ZX5-FS) is an interesting prospect, the weight is indeed morfe spread out but there is definite potential to move the weight a fair bit further forward than the D-J-4(4) cars, as people have said similar to the AC cars.

Why run a different layout at the worlds ...... well first off they would have done it for the same reasons as everybody else ran that layout .... on that track it worked. Why do something different now? Well that is called development, you can only assume that many of those testing the car share my feeling that the weight all being towards the rear isn't the way to go.
So why have they released the car with the cells so rearward? That will be to make the car easier to drive for the average joe ..... the spread out weight distribution will be quite gentle to react and those won't catch out the more novice driver with super sharp direction changes, also having weight over the rear will aid traction on the loose, weight at the front will give very smooth steering.

How has Gil been involved ...... well I don't know for sure but I bet that the car's actual weight distribution won't be far of that of a XX4 with the cells in the rear most position!

Jonathan ..... I'll take the first of the AC conversions when you do one .... :D

Jonboy ...... I think you need to drive my ZX5-SP ...... until last weekend all Kyosho components (just fitted the alloy shock mounts from 3- racing after seeing the jumps at Ozwestry ... otherwise still all Kyosho) and it's going as quickly as I can push it, driver not the car is the limitation here!!!

A couple of people who are "quick" who have driven it have been very complimentry and a few other quick guys who have seen it go have commented on how good it looks around the track.

I don't think that your comment is going to help sell any of these great cars now is it?!?!?!?! :o

I'm not actually sure what Jon said there - first that the ZX5 wasn't good enough for Kyosho to bother properly support it - then that they only respect people who stood by the ZX5 instead of racing something else. Unless I'm completely on drugs, thats an extreme double standard. :eh?:

If a small company like XFactory can win a National - a big company like Kyosho can. I think the difference is they wanted to.

Exactly jimmy, xfactory have made the cars for optimum performance, they also show enthusiasm as a team, from the "B" drivers right upto Ellis, BK and Chazz the boss man.

Kyosho are a huge company and are probably controlled by a finance department as they are profit driven. Dont get me wrong im sure Chazz would love a huge turnover like kyosho but i think it would be used in a different way. Kyosho are just going to develop a car that works in japan and us UK guys will have to make do. Very poor IMO:thumbdown:

Wish you had told us that before we spent the money & time on our ZX-5 JonBoy, if its not good enough then why produce it

<O:p</O:pI can see something may have been lost but your English is good enough to know what you are saying, there are still a lot of plusses with the lazer, but your statement is very disappointing, which cars do you think "offer a chance" to the racer?

<O:p</O:p
:confused::confused::confused:

BJ4, B44, D4 etc

The ones they have just cloned :thumbdown:

I agree Jimmy, extreme double standards here and tbh i'm somewhat speechless that these comments have been made on a public forum by some body who works for Kyosho UK. The same person who made a post on this forum a couple of months ago offering shop drives and stating that the SP was a work in progress and here to stay. Were these shop drives there to exhaust kits from stock? hmm. I knew months ago that there was a new car been released in the middle of this year, so Jonboy you must of known too.

Going to stop now because I might say something I shouldn't and a public forum isn't the place.


Richard Sharp.

Its ok mate, i do it all the time :lol:

WELL said lee thats true thats why if u go to USA and JAPAN the guys over there always race kyosho,yokomo,tamiya because yeah the cars are very good but they dont struggle with parts because these cars mainly come from there but if kyosho think there gonna make an impact they better think twice kyosho didnt even make it to the euros last year now there are more better cars out there that perform better than kyosho and yokomo such as xfactory,hotbodies,associated,losi

Well, admitedly that takes some balls to say that they didn't push the ZX5 or sponsor drivers as the car wasn't good enough, in what way, I am not sure, whether they just didn't have the confidence in the unit or that they couldn'y tie up a national F1 driver to run it, I am not sure, but then there is the RB5 which, I am sure is a more than capable car, so why not sponsor to drive 2wd and leave 4wd an open choice.

I am nor a Kyosho fan, but by not supporting drivers, either blatantly or surupticiously then you have killed sales to the 'racing fraternity' then you get guys buying the Ready Set ZX5, turning up to a club day and realising the car just isn't 'man enough'

They had F1 drivers begging to race for them if I'm totally honest.

I dont think what jonboy has said is bad, he has only said what we have all said before. Dont forget kyosho never brought out the zx5 and thought it would win a WC or even a national. It was aimed at the club racer, the sp seems to be a bit more competitive but it is still 2 years behind in design.

People dont buy the latest kyoshos and think they are buying the latest and greatest, if they do then they are seriously deluded:)

The RB5 is the latest and now i've driven mine i'd also say its the greatest. If the new 4wd cuts the grade it will make Kyosho a strong force in tenth off road. Thats if they get a 'direct' team together.

I think you're a bit wrong there Lee - look at Japan and USA, they do believe.

Saying "its what we have all said before" simply isn't true - some people yes, you know, those same people who laughed at the Tamiya Durga until I proved it was competitive, or the 501X until Hupo won the euros, or the RB5 until woody put it in multiple A finals - etc.
The best design ever? hmmm, not sure. Capable of winning the worlds and Nationals? In the right hands of course.:thumbsup: If you think the XXX4 is a vastly superior car, you're on crack! :lol:

The xxx4 was quick on dirt though wasn`t it, it just didnt suit out bumpy tracks.

I dont know who laughed at the 501x i was only getting into off road when it was released so i really didnt know much about the design. I thought the yokomo looked cool though:lol: The durga is ace, to be honest i new nothing about them until i saw yours and i was very impressed, i couldnt tell if you were using the 501 or the durga at york regional, thats how good it is.

I should of really said kyosho 4wd cars as the RB5 has been proven to be quick in the right hands.

I think even woody would agree though that the SP is still a little off the pace:)