My Personal Review of the XMODS..

MicroRCracer · #1 10-20-2003, 03:43 AM

Just bought one about two days ago and started to tinker with it.. For the price, its not bad at all.. 50.00 is pretty much reasonable eventhough it comes with a light weight sort of crappy TX that uses a 9v little square battery. I tried using my Kyosho Perfex swapping the crystals, but no luck at all. I would have to say that the stock TX is do-able, being lightweight, comfortable and atleast foldable. Bottom line, its works with no glitches. I like the fact that the starter kit comes in a nice case with molded foam to secure the car body, TX, the car itself(chassis), wheels, and etc.. I can honestly see the XMOD being a serious competitor.. The engineering reminds me of a 1/10 Sedan 4wd where it has the option to have bearings all over for the drivetrain just like the Tamiya Sedans and Assoc. TC3's. I think where the motor is placed along with the electronics and structured parts is well balanced. There's even a whole lot of affordable options compared to the Mini-Z. Its pretty cool how it has an integrated plug on the chassis for the light kit. I also noticed that this thing has brakes before it hits reverse which is a plus.. The steering doesnt steer as fully inward compared to the mini-z, but it actually will if you buy the suspension kit which comes with the steering bars which come in 1.5 , 3.0 , and 4.5. When you buy the stage 2 motors for $15.00, it comes with 4 different motors which are identical in RPM, but with different pinion gears and spur transfer gears.. What i personally do is get a plier and just carefully pull off the pinion gears on each of them and just use each motor one by one as a back up when the motor loses life. I recommend doing this when you have a specific gear ratio that you usually like to stick to.. I also noticed that when you buy the stage 2 motor set, it also comes with a good heatsink that wraps over almost the whole engine to discipate the heat.. I can tell who ever engineered this studied the Mini-Z and and other mini-4wd RC's to come up with the Xmod. The bodies are kind of heavy since it uses a lot of screws to put the body together, but i think its pretty cool since you can buy an affordable body upgrade kit to dress up your Xmod' s car body to like a Fast and Furious type. Optional rims are affordable as well, which comes with 3 different sets which look very nice and realistice. They even have the cool tire sets where you can get different gradesof slicks and even treaded ones. Also, keep in mind that these hop up parts are sponsored by real motorsport companies like Super Street magazine or Eibach. So, when you by the shock kit, their springs are supposed to be Eibachs just like the full scale ones. I also forgot to mention, when you buy the stock starter kit, it comes rear wheel drive and has the option to have the front end assembly to convert it to AWD where it also comes with the rear ball diff to replace the planetary gear diff(stock one). I think its pretty cool to have either or in one car which allows you to transform for every different application of racing..

I personally, bought the bearings kit(a must), Stage 2 motor kit(30k RPMS)/pinion gear set/Heatsink, shock/ spring set/3 different steering bars, and the AWD Kit as a must have to start out with. Then I also bought the different rims and tires and light kit for the dressing up part.. For the AWD Conversion, the ball diff is actually actually dramatically improves the handling in terms of being able to drift on turns like a real insane Initial D Drifter.. Right now Im using the stock rear gear diff for now to get that POSI rear and front torque off the start which is actually great for drag racing!!

For those who dont know me, I am a veteran legit mini-z motormaker that actually retired for a while to diffuse unwanted immature, conflict of inerests situations.. Anyways, I took the motor a part and put my personal handwound armature in and all i can say is that the performance is once again night and day where the stage 2 is dramatically increased to like stage 5 or beyond. So far the Fets havent burned out and am still experimenting. I also recommend using Nicads if you want more punch power and speed. Im using Sanyo GE AAA's rated at 1.25v , not like your average 1.2v. I still havent tore down the Receiver/ ESC unit, to see what Coded Fets is being used, but that will be my next project when Im in the mood or have time to do so.. From the negative posts Ive read in terms of the XMODS, I think Mini-Z really has to watch out in a serious race track with tight turns since this 1/28th machine has tons of potential in speed and handling!! Im not just saying it, but once again proving it with my Mini-Z buddies just like how I did with my 1/43rd Epoch Spec 2 Racers!

Overall, I recommend buying this affordable machine to actually enjoy, discover and tinker with as a Micro RC enthusiast for a collection in respect of 1/28th RC Car variety. For a RadioShack brand, I think theyre actually picking up in the Hobby Quality of RC's just like their new ZipZaps SE which is also Hobby Quality and digital propotioned. I know you guys might not agree with me, but i think these XMODS will sell like hot cakes in the US since Radio Shack has skills in extensive marketing for advertising in Nation wide TV commercials and SALE ads. The availabilty is also a key factor which is sold in each RS store all over the nation. With their advertising, especially during the holidays, like right now, people will soon discover and tell another friend in getting into Xmods. It will pretty much be like a Supply and Demand since it will be like boom in the advertising and word or mouth in like a straight up domino effect.. Lets face it, lots of people in the US dont even know about the Kyosho Mini-Z's like how they never knew about Tomy Bicharg's where all of these similar copycat RC's came out in the US. The only people who knew about it were RC hobbyists who read RC mags or hung out at their local hobby stores.. I guess my point is, Mini RC's are spreading all over different companies or stores and not just hobby stores anymore, where RadioShack as an example is becoming up and coming for Hobby Quality RC's where expensive hobby stores are going to lose money because of this. Anyways, I left the Mini-Z racing scene for a while and did the dangerous motorcycling racing track scene and am going to try and come back to Mini and even Macro RC racing again to to try and discover more with these Xmods like how I did with the Mini-Z's when they were first newly born back in the day..

By the way, here's a pic of my modded Xmod..

lilcricket · #2 10-20-2003, 04:09 AM

let me be the first to say, great review...

#3 10-20-2003, 08:16 AM

Can the Mini-Z bodies fit the Xmod?

Can I fit Overland suspension so that I can covert my Xmod into an Off-road rally car?

What do you think the effects would be (seeing the arrangement of the electronics etc.) if I were to take this thing off-road on hard packed dirt?

That was a Great review, it makes me confident in your replies.

Thanx

MicroRCracer · #4 10-20-2003, 01:09 PM

Im not sure if you can fit Mini-Z bodies on the Xmod, but Im very sure you can rig something to make it happen..

I currently do not own an overland and am not sure since I deal with my angry beast of a .21 TMAXX. maybe ill get an overland someday..

I dont think the electronics can tolerate offroading dirt. The XMOD is designed for smooth onroad track racing competing against the Mini-Z's in terms of performance and style..

Once i make new discoveries, I'll be sure to let you guys know..

Queso · #5 10-20-2003, 01:11 PM

sorry for getting off topic...... but

microrcracer do you know of any good tracks
in the la/oc area ?

#6 10-20-2003, 09:44 PM

Can the mini-Z bearings fit the Xmods?

I hear the xmods bearings are open and i think the mini-z's are sealed (not sure). And it is the open bearings that will hamper the off roading.

donut · #7 10-20-2003, 09:55 PM

Any way of putting a Mini-Z PCB into an XMod?

slugbugg · #8 10-20-2003, 09:58 PM

MicroRCracer, I noticed in the picture that you used the clear piece of plastic up front over the uprights(good idea-looks good) but aren't you afraid of it flexing and breaking?

gunner.inc · #9 10-20-2003, 11:01 PM

can you make the motors faster if so how much would you charge me

Murcielago659 · #10 10-21-2003, 12:12 PM

The 800mAh only relates to run time. For comparison I got about 30 minutes of runtime from some 700mAh, so an 800mAh might give you 32 or 33 minutes of runtime. The only thing on a battery that affects speed is voltage. I don't know much about ic3s, so I couldn't tell you what the voltage is supposed to be. But on Ni-MH batteries you can get anywhere from 1.2-1.5v, depending on the quality. I haven't tested my new ones yet, but I'd guess they're around 1.3ish.

MicroRCracer · #11 10-21-2003, 06:57 PM

kmspiker / Murcielago659,

i think the the 1.25v nicads that im using is a lot better.. Its not really about the mahs, its about the votage and nicads known to having more punch power than nimh, however nicads have a memory. its very simple though.. Just drain'em almost fully and recharge at 1.5 amps

gunner.inc,

Im still developing a way faster motor and when its finalized, ill let you know..

slugbugg,

I kept the 2ply lexan to reduce weight as much as possible along with gioving it good looks.. The chassis is already stiff enough where yiou dont really need the brace.. Thats just my opinion. Plus, the instructions didnt say to re-use the brace..

maxximum attack,

I havent tried using the bearings on the mini-z to see if they fit, but more than likely im sure they do.. It is a bummer though how the bearings arent shielded, but the quality of the bearing are not bad at all since it handles the crazy rpms of my modded motor..

donut,

I domnt think you can fit the mini-z pcb with this one, however it might be possible to doa FET stack internal turbo or even use a mini-z external turbo upgrade.. Ill research this more when i have time and let all of you know...

MicroRCracer · #12 10-27-2003, 05:33 PM

As promised earlier in this XMOD thread, I have just finished or finalized my Insane Super Notorious Mod Motor for these Xmods without smoking the FETS!! Look out for it on eBaY or just email me if interested. Ive done the test over and over again for about a whole week already and so far the electronics are drastically taking the punishment!! This motor definititely makes the Stage 2 look like a stock crappy motor!! Yes, my handwound personalized motor is bearing supported on the endbell and motor can. This toy is no longer rated as an X-Mod but to the furthest speed classification of a Z-Mod. To avoid giving my motor a stage name, I am going to be selling it on eb@y as an exclusive Xmod motor called , "Z-Mod Redline Series Motor: Taking your Xmod's Speed To The Highest Limit", since it has the same speed characteristics of a Mini-Z now.. Anyone interested are welcomed to email me.. Ive already had requests from the folks from TinyRC.com and so far Im still thinking of a reasonable price instead of selling my vintage motors from the past for 45 to 60 dollars.. Im also going to try using my vintage GPM TWIN TURBO(external unit) and see what other higher speed i can get out of it.. I'll let you guys know the outcome in a few days!!

Murcielago659 · #13 10-27-2003, 07:30 PM

I tried searching on ebay and it doesn't seem to be there. Do you have a link to your auction?

MicroRCracer · #14 10-27-2003, 07:36 PM

Murcielago659,

Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3152430022

viperkilla · #15 10-27-2003, 07:36 PM

Wow that is a great review. That went into alot of detail. Its really long but I guess the more detail the better it is.