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
