zx 5 newbie needs help!!!

[mary_p_o_o]

hi all,
great forum by the way, i have recently purchased a rtr lazer zx 5 to get back on the RC scene after many years away, all is well with the rtr but i have obtained another rolling shell to use as spares, it has quite a few differences from the rtr, alloy parts etc, is there any way of telling is it is the sp version,

did kyosho only do the rtr and the sp or were there many other variants??
any help would be a great help,
thanks guys, mike

[dibble34]

Originally Posted by mary_p_o_o

hi all,
great forum by the way, i have recently purchased a rtr lazer zx 5 to get back on the RC scene after many years away, all is well with the rtr but i have obtained another rolling shell to use as spares, it has quite a few differences from the rtr, alloy parts etc, is there any way of telling is it is the sp version,

did kyosho only do the rtr and the sp or were there many other variants??
any help would be a great help,
thanks guys, mike

Hi Mike

There are 3 versions that i am aware of the RTR, standard zx5 and the SP. I too started with the RTR but soon found i need to upgrade many of the parts as i upgraded the motor & esc. I think the wishbones are different on the sp so if your roller has the same wishbones as your rtr then the odds are it is a standard zx5. The standard zx5 has steel diffs and driveshatfs compared to the rtr model.

Hope that helps

Cheers

Dave

[Ted Maul]

The front suspension on the RTR is the same as the standard ZX-5, the front suspension on the SP is different, the uprights and knuckle arms are brand new.

Basically take the front wheels off both cars, if all the suspension parts are the same, then your new car is a zx-5, if its different, its an SP. Or post some photos of the car without wheels and we will tell you.

[JCJC]

You may also find the wheel offset and hex is different, the wheels are not interchangeable, one of the reasons we did not SP our ZX5, could not face another set of wheels.

[caneye]

Originally Posted by Ted Maul

The front suspension on the RTR is the same as the standard ZX-5, the front suspension on the SP is different, the uprights and knuckle arms are brand new.

Basically take the front wheels off both cars, if all the suspension parts are the same, then your new car is a zx-5, if its different, its an SP. Or post some photos of the car without wheels and we will tell you.

in addition to that, the shocks are totally different. IIRC, the RTR comes with plastic shock bodies. the standard zx5 kit came with alu shock bodies. there's a significant difference in quality and strength between the 2.

[mary_p_o_o]

cheers guys ill take a look and report back

[mary_p_o_o]

yeh, looking at the 2 together it looks likethere is no real differences, so i take it its the standard zx 5.

so in that case what is different about the zx 5 and the sp???? and how does it effect the car??

[JCJC]

The SP was introduced by Kyosho in at least 3 guises, (1) as Law35 - a bag of bits. (2) as an addition to the kit - you got the bag of bits plus the original kit and (3) later as the SP kit. Somewhere in there was the "middle" (law34) conversion that introduced RB5 rear suspension, some SP cars had newer shock parts (RB5 tripple cap shocks) and some missed out. This is why a lot of confusion still exists, just look back over the Kyosho section.

Mostly the SP changed the front hub, this also needed new wishbones, driveshafts and new wheels with a different hex and offset. Some say it improved the car, and I am sure they are right.

[RogerM]

It transformed the car!

Much easier to drive quickly, more stable but also more low speed steering. It is a VERY expensive upgrade now the LAW35 upgrade is no longer available, I would recomend buying a complete kit rather than trying to get all the parts together individually.