x6
 

This is from Chazz on another forum, needless to say this section is here as i will soon be reviewing the X5 conversion for the xx4 thanks to XFactorys support.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(chazz)

The X - 6 2WD buggy made its debut Thursday Jan 12th at the 19th MidWest MidWinter Championship in Columbus, Ohio. Greg Hodapp drove five or six packs on the first day of practice, proving right from the start that the car handles and flies very well indeed.

The X - 6 is a Conversion Kit for the AE B4, using the B4's entire front end and steering as well as the B4 diff, trans gears, CVDs, and rear hub carriers. X Factory will make the chassis, trans case, rear control arms, rear shock tower, and many "little" bits.

THE MOTOR IS IN FRONT OF THE REAR WHEELS and the car uses the 4 + 2 battery pack carried over from the X - 5 4WD car. The "four" batteries run sideways in front of the motor, with the "two" cells sideways in front of them. The speedo is on the left next to the "two" cells, while the receiver is on the right.

We hope you understand we are at the Columbus race this weekend and incredibly busy with the cars and the race. We have photos and video and will post both as soon as we can.


http://www.4wdrc.com

Ive been watching this one for a while now, sounds very interesting. Looking forward to seeing some decent photos and also knowing if the production kit will have all the trick parts like the Magnesium chassis ?

I think the mag chassis is just for prototyping, i imagine the production one will be moulded like their 4wd chassis.
Still, moulding a chassis is a big investment, so the car will have to be good before they commit.

Thanks to Chazz i should also be reviewing the x6 so that will be great.

PICTURESSSS

http://www.eraprise.com/4wdrcbb/viewtopic.php?t=593

abit different ey? :D

Now after I already said I kinda liked the body elsewhere... the more I look at it the more it shows as really repulsive. I hope it is just a "cover" for the prototype chassis.

Ugh.

Reading elsewhere, the body they are using is apparently a cut and bodged one from another car, just so they can get some runtime on the prototype. They have not begun manaufacture of the "proper" X6 shell yet.

lol, i want that exact shell! they should sell it along side the proper final shell..

im you watching the computer through your Fish Eye lense again!!! :shock: :lol: :lol:

Myself and Chris Long are in the process of becoming X Factory drivers and so as soon as the X6 is released we will have the first ones in the UK and so Jimmy will have the first pictures (assuming he wants to take some).

We hope to have the pre release cars in late april and get some track time ahead for Tivvy national.

I'm sure the shell will be a lot nicer than that proto car one, however Chazz first priority is aero. Now I for one defo buy into this as if you run my X5 back to back with and without the shell the rear is much less planted!

I really think on tracks like Bury and Batley the car is going to be dialled!

Dan

We've just returned from the Losi Race in Florida, where Greg put the X - 6 in the show. Further, during Saturday qualifying, Greg set the fastest buggy laps of the entire week with a 38.4 and a 38.7. We saw no other times below 38.8.

In the X Factory Challenge race on Saturday, Greg emerged victorious after a long battle with Cavalieri. We're working to get videos up, but there are tech problems. @#$%^&*!!

Still a few spots left in the 300 Pre-Production Special, and you guys in the U.K. should know you'll get your kits from Lesro Models. Contact them or us.

Wow! not bad results at all Chazz, look forward to the videos. Any update on the release date of the X6?

I'm already in that 300, just hope I don't get f****d over on the exchange rate! :o

Mines on order, will be coming via Lesro so no need to worry about exchange rates and getting stung for Import duty & Vat etc :)

that will just be included in the price Jon... heeheehee....

Yes i know but it save's any nasty surprises :)

I'd rather just buy direct, the use of importers/distributers locally often just means the British public end up paying more for the product than others around the globe:mad:
How we can have a situation whereby its possible to order abroad, pay international air mail shipping and UK duty/VAT , but still make savings often over 25% ??

I did order direct with Chazz but my order was passed to Lesro, as i did not want to send my credit card details via a email, and they don't take paypal.

I must admit, if they are going to have an online presence, get an e-store, I know there are issue's and complications but there are places that offer all the bacnking side thrown in.

im waiting till a few x-6's make it over and see how they go.. ive got a pretty good b4 and bk2 atm. if they seem to go well ill have to get one as my x-5 is simply amazing, and if the x-6 will follow suite itl be perfect!

Paul, i do intend to atom'iz the X6, so it will be interesting to see what can be done, have you had any joy with your 2wd projects ?

Bah you guys with your car mods.. i have carbon fibre, a big block of alloy, delrin and some thick polycarbonate at home, all just waiting for me to have the time to make a car.. sigh.. :(

Pull your finger out then jimmy ;) i guess the current reviews should be done soon so you may have a bit of time.

Maybe not if Vicky has anything to do with it, I think Jimmy has possibly played his "DIY dodging" joker card a time too many:D :D

im still trying to get parts im afraid! no one wants to give up there bk1 parts :(

youve given me an idea however.. i need some front shock towers for spares.. any atmoic bling ones avaliable? ;)

again.. any one with a bk1 gear box, pivot blocks and mf2 hubs? give me an email!

Drop me a PM or email with what you are after and i will have a look.

Btw found a part so you can use a Bk2 front end but bolt it onto flat carbon fibre ;) saves hacking a chassis etc.

oooh:o

my b4 chassis mod hasnt taken off the ground, i found out about the x-6 and it made my design redundant:D

sending pm..

Thats what I meant when I mentioned getting screwed over.... :(

I ordeed an X-6 from Chaz (x-6 fella at X-factory) in the states and I too was passed to Lesro Models. I spoke to a chap there who assured me it would be as cheap if not cheaper than buying direct from Chaz in the states. So i'm ok with that.

I'm interested to see how it goes, I can't help thinking there's a good reason why traditioanlly the motor has being hung out of the back of 2wd buggies !

Anyhow, all I need now is a B4 for the conversion, cheap B4 anyone ?

You like the toys don't you andy! :D You'll be bringing so many cars to a regional you really wont know what to do with yourself

I'm really looking forward to seeing the car go though I'm like you andy, not seen a mid motor 2wd go before...
Apart from that is for my Kyosho Raider, that had a mid motor and i remember how impossible it was to set off on the driveway when I was a kid, it would just spin and spin!

Jimmy.

Back in the day, I remember tamiya brought out a front wheel drive off roader. I remember seeing a few run at Batley's Hare and Hounds track and they were absolutley rubbish. Myabe a car with both the motor and cells hanging out the back is the way to go ?

I think the B4 is far and away the best car i've ever driven, so the x-6 conversion will have to be something special. The thing with the B4 is it just goes so well without loads of tinkering, which is nice for us 'casual' racers. I hope the x-6 just goes well 'out of the box' too.

Any ideas where the best place to get a new B4 is, as I don't want to be without one in case the x-6 conversion isn't to my liking !

B4's seem to go cheap on Ebay at the moment, Losi's are fetching the £'s at the moment.

G

Are you thinking of the Kyosho Maxxum FF ? that was a front wheel drive buggy.

I definately agree about the B4, it just goes well all the time.

Andy, I don't see why the X6 can't be converted straight back to a B4 if you dont like it, you could just sell on the conversion bits.

didnt someone like MIP, RPM or Trinity try this back in like '94 - '95 ish with a conversion kit for the original rc10? or it could of been a schumacher conversion actually... wish i hadnt chucked all those old RC mags now :-(

It was deffinetly either the cougar 2 or the rc10, i think they went fairly well, though i never saw one.

Was none of those three manufacturers but was deffo the RC10...
It was a graphite conversion chassis made by TEKIN...
heres a link to one i found on tamiya club..

http://www.tamiyaclub.com/trades_mod...=19582&id=3729

he also has the hydra-drive conversion for the sleath tranny... remeber that??

mip did the 4wd conversion for the rc10 was actually quite good i had a play with one not as good as a dedicated 4wd but a worthwile effort.

the xxx is selling at a premium at the moment because they need the gearbox and a few other bits to modify the bk2

Tekin did indeed make a conversion for the RC10, also, a company called Fabiix made a mid motor conversion for the Cougar 95/2000.

I'll have a go here at explaining the concepts. Turns out The New Math will probably be better on your side of the pond than ours.

Note that both major manufacturers of off-road buggies are from Southern California.

Back in the day we had what can only be called rock hard tires. There are two major tire manufacturers in the US, Losi and Pro-Line. Their silver and M-2 compounds, hard by today's standards, are far softer than anything from back then. Losi's red & pink, and the M-3, are far softer yet.

Couple the modern soft tire with the modern foams and you've got something that mirrors advancements in real race car tires over the last 20 years.

At the same time, US tracks have changed dramatically. Back in the day most off-road tracks were very soft loamy or sandy surfaces. Between the very soft tracks and very hard tires, forward traction was difficult to obtain, so the motor was moved to behind the rear sheels to act like a lever pushing the rear wheels down into the ground. And it worked -- the rear motor buggy has loads of forward bite.

The problem is that the rear motor, being heavy, likes to proceed the rest of the car through a corner. It tends to stay tucked in at low speed, but, as corner speed increases, it has a nasty habit of jumping around suddenly. Driving a rear-motor buggy is an exercise in balancing on the edge of a cliff.

U.S. tracks have changed greatly to the point that most of the major races (Cactus Classic, Losi race, Hot Rod Shoot-Out) are contested on blue groove tracks. These tracks are hard as rocks and have a layer of rubber on them that makes them even stickier. Many U.S. indoor tracks, made of topsoil, are also very high traction compared to the sandy tracks of old.

The blue groove tracks are all swept or blown with leaf blowers to make sure there's no dust at all. The indoor tracks are watered -- solid surface with no dust. Even a "loose" outdoor track, R/C Madness where the ROAR Mod Nats were held last summer was watered literally every 7 minutes to keep the dust down as much as possible.

We posited that the rear motor is no longer needed for forward bite -- the combination of new tires and modern tracks gives all the traction needed. In fact, in the U.S. you've sometimes got to baby the throttle on the straight or else, with a rear-motor car, you'll loose time doing wheelies. Indeed, the X - 6 accelerates just as well on our tracks as any other car, and no wheelies -- just punch it! Should do the same on your tracks...

Cornering, handling bumps, and flying jumps? That's where she shines. Far more predictable. Much easier to drive fast. No more unexpected spins because you've fallen off the cliff. It cruises through whoops and washboards instead of bucking like a bronco. And super stable in the air. It's all about weight distribution...

Unfortunately we lost the video from the X Factory Challenge buggy race. There, as Ryan Cavalieri worked his tail off trying to pass Greg, you'll just have to take my word for it that it was obvious the X - 6 was the fastest thing on the track. In qualifying on Saturday Greg turned the fastest laps we saw for the entire week, with a 38.4 & 38.7. We saw nothing faster than 38.8. And we're still working on set-up.

Lots of new photos and a story now up at www.2wdrc.com showing Paul building the first production prototype molded chassis X - 6. Everything fits correctly and the on-track results are that the chassis is strong.

Spots in the first 300 are almost gone.

If all continues according to plan, we'll ship production proto cars to Dan & Chris late next week, and all you guys can see them for yourselves. At least you'll get to see the toe-in bar and back of the wing... LOL

Great stuff Chazz.. What will be proto / production on the cars the likes of chris and dan will be running ? will there be gearboxes, cell straps etc? ?

I think I'll meet up with Chris once hes got it built for a few exclusive shots :)