Tell me about your personal expearinces with your zx-5s
 

Tell me about your personal expearinces with your zx-5s

It´s my first 1:10 4wd offroad (except for a nearly not used Avante) but I must say it´s a very good and durable car. I have mainly raced it indoors and so far only broken the front shocktower holder and some front and rear arms. (also the plastic cap on top of the front shocks)

Stack up with those parts and just race! if you use a one-way in the front some extra bevel-gears might be a good investment aswell.

Can´t compare how it runs since I havent really driven any other cars but I like the feeling of it, and at my skill-level the car isn´t responsible for fast or slow laptimes. :D
It´s also a good thing its shaft-driven and you can use stickpacks. Less maintenence and you have lots of good li-pos to choose from.
/Will

i ran a lazer for 2 years and it is a very solid car. Nice and easy to drive, very forgiving if you get out of shape. it jumps well too. Only thing i broke on it was a few front hubs. There are plenty of build tips in the kyosho section. the main ones being replace the diff balls before you build the car with associated or similar as the kit ones are poor. stock up on 10 degree front hubs as they drive much better than the kit 7 deg. Also fit an atomic front shock tower to the front of the car WITH the orignal item to make it double thick, it won;t break then! The front alloy pivot brace is also a must. Also a hex screw kit will make you life easier as the kit phillips are poor.

Firstly which car do you mean .. the ZX5 or the ZX5-SP ??? They are very different to drive!!

The ZX5-SP is an awesome car ..... I drive one because I honestly feel that it is the best 4wd out there right now and I'll try to explain why.

Bump handling - "excellent" in a word!!!! The first meeting Doom saw me actually run the car at he asked "is it the car that is riding that section well or have you just learned a superb line?" ..... it was the car!!!

Steering feel - the car is very neutral on the box set-up but still turns in very well. A few choice set-up changes and you have a car that will turn inside most things and importantly can be pushed REALLY HARD without becoming unstable or overly twitchy. This means that you can go for overtaking chances that simply aren't there for most cars which can make a world of difference in a final. If you back off and drive the car at 90% it will reward you with super smooth consistency.
All of this without needing the "essential" one-way diff that most 4wd cars seem to rely on these days.
One person who drove my car commented that "it turns much better than my car (XX4) and the more you push it the faster it gets".
Another saying "it'll be a great qualifying car" .... that was before I did the minor mod (no cost) to improve it's nose.

Strength - the original ZX5 got a bit of bad press I understand for being a little weak in places. Kyosho listerned and modified the parts necessary to sort this out. I have put loads of laps on my car (at least 400 laps at one midlands astro track that is all concrete lined) plus quite a bit of indoor running and so far I have broken the following

1 x shock tower (car was stood on ..... hardly a fair test!!!)
1 x shock tower mount (full speed with a Novak 5.5R into an upturned car which had crashed on the straight)
1 x front wishbone (same accident as above)

I don't consider that bad compared to the BJ4WE I had before (2 front wishbones, 2 rear wishbones, rear hubs, front knuckles / steering arms and a shock shaft .... in less than 10% of the same track time) and the host of broken B44s and XX4s I've seen at the same events as I have been to. {I am not saying either BJ4 or XX4 are very weak, just making a comparison, like for like, over the events I have been to recently}

Transmission - the slipper is very consistent, the drive train very free (and still 100% reliable) and the diffs hold adjustment well.

I will say now that when you build the car you need to fit carbide or ceramic diff balls as the kit balls aren't very good and WILL need changing after a couple of meetings.

Set-up sensitivity - small changes make a big difference to this car. A simple change will give you a very definite result. This makes the car very easy to dial in. The box set-up will get people going for the most part ..... if a little soft for the UK tracks .... the US drivers seem to be changing just 2 things from box stock and the car works great for them everywhere so it would seem.

If you are good with set-ups then it will reward your efforts ... if not build to the kit set-up (or my base if your in the UK) and drive the hell out of it!!!! Win-Win

Spares prices - nothing is expensive, no crazy hop-ups needed (apart from diff balls as I said) and most of the bits you need are packed in sensible combinations. The only thing that is a bit of a pain is that the shock tower mounts come with the bulkhead kits and can not be bought individually ...... good job they are tough now ... but then again the whole bulkhead set is only about £7 and includes everything that could get trashed in a big accident or to remove wear on a rebuild.


The only one of the main cars I have not driven is the X5 (ok Aero too but there is only one built one in the UK at the moment) so I can not comment on that but of the rest I have to say that the ZX5-SP is probably the car that will suit most people, on most surfaces due to it's neutral nature.

I'd recomend one to anybody and am more than happy to let people drive mine as I am yet to have a negative comment from anybody!

Buy one you won't be disappointed .... hell .. buy 2 :D

Congratulations on the worlds longest answer Roger! You must be on some good commision from Kyosho!! ....salesman of the year goes to Roger M..:p:p:p

LOL .... not on any commission at all.

I am genuinely enthusiastic about this car ...... last time I drove anything this nice I had to design it myself :o

ZX-5
 

They say that GOD created the earth and the heavens in six days and on the seventh he rested.This is wrong on the seventh day he was a bit bored, all that pumped up energy from designing the universe and all that, soooo he then created the LAZER ZX-5 in all its heavenly splender!!!!! and he said "LET THERE BE LAZER" and there was, the ultimate off-road BUGGY ....................Ahh men!!!!!!!!!!!!!:yawn:

What i meant was just a polite way of saying it's got the steering response of an oil tanker in a rough sea... :lol: :p

Drive it again now ...... LOADS of extra front end ... when you drove it the front link was a little too short and it was a little too soft.

I absolutely love my zx-5, i think its an absolutely great car but the most annoying factor of this car i think is that i have broken 3 of the standard chassis from minor crashes so, i am now moving on to the carbon fibre chassis.

I have had my lazer scince august of last year and so far i have broken 2 wish bones, 1 shock tower mount and the 3 chassis wich i think is quite strange

My conclusion the zx-5 is a great car and i wouldn't change it for any other 4WD on the market

Im selling the aero now!!!:thumbsup::lol:


Oh and there is 2 built one of which is on the kitchen table;)

looks like my S4 is goin to be up for sale now. That post has really inspired me to get a kyolso......:yawn:
Will my S4 shell fit the kyosho or will it need to loose a few pounds cos slim is the way forward....

LIER LIER PANTS ON FIRE
YOU TWO LMAO

I want to laugh but this is harsh Roger feels pasionate about his car like i do with my xx4we He is totally wrong mind the xx4 is the best car in the world :p But i think everyone is entitlled to there opinion.

A

You are certainly entitled to an opinion Ash, as is everybody! I am interested why you felt like laughing Ashley, please explain??!?!!!????!!! Your more than welcome to have a drive of my ZX5-SP the next time we are at the same event .... maybe you'd find it interesting to compare it.

I understand why the ZX5 developed as tarnished reputation but in all honesty Kyosho have sorted ALL of the issues with the SP .... and taken a giant leap forward in the handling of the car too.

When I compare my times against other peoples times I do two things

a) compare my ultimate pace with people like Tom Yardy, Phil Sleigh and Matt Dodd who are always going to be there or there abouts. This determines my ultimate level of pace.

b) compare my times with people like Simon Overall and the regular mid-west F2 driver who I have previously run on a par with and are likely to be +/- a couple of places from me. This determines how close to my full potential I am running on that day.

Since going to the ZX5-SP (from BJ4WE) I have improved my position relative to both of the above groups and I am doing nothing differnetly so the improvement has to be coming from the car.

Do not discount the ZX5-SP as a contender based on the experiences of original ZX5, time has not stood still at Kyosho.

As a guide, at Kidderminster, my ZX5-SP is the best part of 0.5s / lap quicker (back-back .... same day, same motor, cells and tires), consistently, than the BJ4WE I had before ... that is seriously worth having I am sure everybody will agree.

Similarly the RB5 is at least, if not by more, of an advantage over the B4 I ran previously on similar back to back testing.


Kyosho might not be the current "fashionable" brand but it should not be overlooked ..... after all, they are gaining popularity in the USA and we all know how patriotic the Americans are so for racers to be moving in numbers away from US brands enforces the point.


As for comparisons with the AC S4 remember you could by 3 ZX5-SPs for the cost of one S4. The S4 is a VERY good car and was specifically designed to suit the sort of tracks we have in the UK / Europe so is a great choice too.

Similar points can be leveled at the Aero, based on a proven concept and no doubt will show well in the top drivers hands but it is a little on the pricey side and based on that reason, and no other, I could not consider it.

All I am saying is please, please consider the ZX5-SP as a contender. If your looking to change 4wd chassis you really must try one, mine is always available for people to try, you might just be very suprised!!!

My question to those people who have placed negative responses, admittedly in a joking and non offensive way, is "have you driven a ZX5-SP????????" If you have not you can not really make an objective comment. It would be like me going onto the Areo or S4 threads and slating those cars based on looking at pictures on the net (something I am not going to do and I would like to drive them to compare). As I say my ZX5-SP is always available for anybody who wants to make an informed comparison.......

Roger, i bet proper stumpy little fingers now after those two posts, there will be nowt left of them if you keep going:lol:

I haven`t driven a SP i have never driven any 4wd but the BJ4 WE, part of the reason i went for an aero, i really dont know if i will be any quicker with it or possibly slower:confused: ( i hope not, it would be an expensive mistake:lol:)

I know though from watching people that a xx4 would not be the car for me as the people who are quick with them seem to be driving at 110% But the car lets them get away with it, I know i cant do that, i am super smooth, to the point i feel slow.

I also wanted a car i could be quick with a diff up front, this is something that i couldnt do with the bj4. I never thought of a SP to be honest and never really knew they had released a new model of the ZX5.

With regards to the americans moving away from AE and losi, well they dont have much choice really do they if they dont like the B4 and losi dont want the racers money they have to try the rb5, this is not saying its bad. they just have no other option apart from the x6 and i found this to struggle on dirt. (with a 3 gear box)

The Lazer handles well but it's a typical Kyosho. Some stupid weak points and weird design.

Weak tower mounts, weak shock mounts, weak rear hubs, weak chassis are just some of the things I have noticed in a couple of months running Lazer at a few meetings.Tower mounts are a major weak point, but still not addressed by Kyosho after years. Fortunately other companies have, and you can pick up alloy replacements cheap.

Apart from that, it's really hooked up and seems to handle bumps well when it doesn't break.

Admitadly the orignal tower mounts were a weak spot, but since Kyosho have beefed up the mouldings for the lower front gearbox and the tower mounts I think all weak spots are sorted out.

The new SP car seems to come with the alloy front brace which is the only necessary hop-up in terms of strength.

The chassis certainly isnt weak at all.

The only parts i've broken in recent times are a shock top and a front hub... but I did clout a brick wall track marker at full tilt with a 5.5 :woot:

I wouldn't bother with alloy tower mount or carbon towers becuase they make that area to strong. In a big smash, when somethings got to give, you want it to be a cheap and easy to change part... like tower or mount.

I have had a couple of sets of alloy tower mount replacements and they were c**p, both were weak, the first set were replaced FOC, I am still waiting for the replacements for the 2nd. The alloy used is not of a very good quality.
Have since gone back to the beefed up std parts and had no problems.
Save your money don't get alloy mounts.

This is for the ZX5 not the SP

Good advice for the SP too ..... I don't have the alloy mounts as I am not cinvinced that they are necessary ..... also it's easier to replace the mount than a gearbox case!!