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

[hummer11]

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

[dewil]

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.
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

[jim76]

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.

[RogerM]

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

[FTD123]

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

[RogerM]

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

[Gaz_Stanton]

Originally Posted by RogerM

Another saying "it'll be a great qualifying car" ....

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

[RogerM]

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.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by RogerM

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

Im selling the aero now!!!


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

[ben]

Originally Posted by RogerM

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

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

[bigred5765]

LIER LIER PANTS ON FIRE
YOU TWO LMAO

[jonathan challenor]

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