Tigger N. Bennie

That can usually be fixed with a piece of paper--it removes any "slop" between the servo and the potentiometer. I used some lexan to fix one of my F1s after it got hit one too many times. A new potentiometer is currently listed at $7.79 at Tower Hobbies.

BovineD

ashaman no offense but you may wish to stick to what you know as it is obvious that you know your Xmod inside and out but your opinion on the MiniZ is one that is based purely on third party information and heresay, almost as if you are just picking up the same comments and complaints from other Xmod fanboys and using them as your own. Now I am not saying that you cannot have an opinion on MiniZ as everyone is entitled to their own, but the problem comes into play when you start making direct comparisons and stating factual information without any direct hands on knowledge.

Statements such as these:

when someone asked about the differences between the Xmod and MiniZ.

just reinforce simple fact that you do not own a MiniZ, love your Xmod and as such cannot comment on direct comparisons between the two. Everyone can and will welcome your opinions on the Xmod as you seem to know very much about them and that in effect is a respected opinion, but when it comes to MiniZs it is better to err on the side on non-flammable. Meaning, hold you tongue on any comments you might have unless you have factual proof to back it up.

Look I am not trying to pick on you as half the people on forums are responsible for the same thing, speaking out on matters that they know nothing about, but more of a learning experience. Keep your statements grounded on facts, on what you know and on what you can prove and for anything else that would be an opinion or comment keep an open mind.

But hey, I ain't your daddy. If you want to continue doing what you do, by all means go for it. Just don't sound suprised when you start getting flamed. The whole camera thing a couple of pages ago is a good example by the way.

BovineD

ashamans

To BovineD....

i take a GREAT offense to what you said....

yeah.......i just know what i have heard and all the comments you quoted are from a eairler date...so...hmm......maybe i talked to somebody? maybe drove one? hmm.....i dont know........hmmm.....

I firmly beleive in what i said and what i said is a good comparsion between the xmods and mini-z

and on the camera.....well lets see......if someone offred you a camera(brand new) for 100 - 150$...and at the time its worth 300$(i think it was 279$ on the dot) and you didnt have a camera...would you pick it up? btw it takes awesome pictures...just not close up......<- lol

if you wanna see pictures taken by it... http://www.partyhays.com

a note.....the link didn't work for me when i posted this, we havent udated it since december...so prolly a hostin thing....

sorry if i sound like a dick....but you pissed me off really bad and its really hard to get me pissed

BovineD

ashamans the fact is that you do not personally own one. If you invested the same amount of time and energy that you do on your Xmod on a MiniZ that you owned I would probably view your comments with a litle more credibility but it is obvious that you do not.

If you believe in what you say then by all means go with it man. I am just merely trying to point out the issues in your direct comparisons for somebody who does not have either car which is the point of this thread so I am not even going to bother dragging this issue out any further.

I am not going to even comment on the camera or site.

Sorry I pissed you off as that was not my intent but I stand by my comments, so we will just agree to disagree.

miraj360

Yeah, so a little background so as to make you flamers plan ahead...

I got into RC cars about 15 years ago when RC10's were first starting out. I couldn't afford much on my paper route salary so my RC career was short. A few months ago I went to the Shack to get myself a Hemi 'Cuda ZipZap, but got the xmod instead. So now I'm back into RC... great.

I really dig the xmod. It's definately a lump of human feces out of the box (case... whatever), but a little custom work and it can be a fun little car. Too bad all they have is those gay ricer carts tho. At least I got the Skyline. I also got a free Civic as a parts car. So now I have a yellow Skyline with a slightly modified black wing (from the body kit), AWD, 6 cell NiMH, top speed 'Shack motor and pinion, and some double sided foam tape between the tires and the wheels. Nope... no bearings. I'm not about to spend $15 on some open bearings (my cousin gets a 30% discount).

If the mini-z was the same price as the x-mod, I might've gotten it instead just because it has real... yes REAL electronics. That x-mod radio is ass. Pure ASS! That's really the only thing I like about the mini-z, but then, the cars are basically the same other than solid axel vs. irs. But in 1/28, the difference is imperceptible.

Anyways... why don't you all stop crying about what is better than what? Instead buy something worthwhile... a 1/18 scale rc car. Then we can all move to the HPI Mico RS4 vs. XRAY M18. I bet my 6 cell sub-c saddlepack and center mounted 540 motor customs would turn the tide though.

-j

BovineD

Hey miraj360 the last thing we need to do is start another MRS4 vs Xray issue.....

The two cars in the original posted question concerned Xmods and MiniZs so lets try and keep it to those two.

Most everyone here already knows that an MRS4 or Xray will destroy either of these two but that is why they exist in two different classes. I myself have a pretty much stock RTR MRS4 with just an Big Block upgrade, 6 cell NihM pack and steel dogbones but am dying to get an Xray. All the electronics that I want for that bad boy however will cost me over 600 so i will have to wait on that...

Whats the speed on your Xray? About 40~45MPH?

miraj360

I was just kidding about MRS4 vs. M18. It's been done to death. Just illustrating -with sarcasm- that there will always be some stupid debate. On the speed of my xray, I'm not sure... I'm not good at judging speed visually. I always think these crackheads on their motorcycles are driving by my house at about 50 when it's more like 35. I think my neighbor has a speed gun though. He's really big on RC and races every other weekend or so. Maybe I'll have him zap it for me.

How fast is your MiniZ, btw? My xmod is pretty fast. It was shredding tires (literally), but I got this 3M double sided exterior moldable foam tape. It's about 0.5mm thick so the tires end up looking a tad fat, but man, that stuff works! Anyway, I would guess my little toy Skyline does about 15-20mph, but I can't really tell because the "radio" has zero range so by the time it gets near top speed (i have the top speed gearing so it takes a while) I'm either out of range or out of track (my patio).

-j

BovineD

I hear you about the 1/18th wars. DOne to death and back...and again....and then back again.

My MR01 chassis just had an external turbo and Yeah Racing speed motor added and it is probably close to about 24-25mph at this point but I have not checked it out on radar at this time. Too fast for me I am sure.

My other Zs the MR02, Overland and Monster are all running Xspeeds and BBs so they all top at around 15~18mph depending on the pinions. I am going to keep my Xmod at stock upgrades for now as I want to run in the XRL tourney later in June but after that I will probably get some mods from atomicmods.com and start testing out the speed abilities of my little Xmod.

Man and are you ever right about the radio and range....just terrible out of the box. I will look into some fixes for that as well after the tourney. If you have not done so already, pick up the tires pack fro RS. I found that the softest tires had a nice tight fit and they didn't fly off as much and you may not need the 3M tape.

So are you running the 6 cell mod with the stage2 11t motor then? The AWD slows it down a bit but definitely worth it. I run 4 NiMH batts and the stage2 11t and topped out at around 18mph but that was with just the RWD. After the AWD upgrade it defintely seems slower then my MR02 but the big loser in that combo is the acceleration. It absolutely KILLS it.

Tigger N. Bennie

1:18th flame wars? Another reason I don't bother checking those threads and sites anymore. Regarding the Shack Tourney, last night, I was racing Mini-Zs with a couple of guys I know from southern California at the local 4L RCP. One of them purchased an Xmod for the California regional and he is trying to get me to go too. I’ve thought about it and I guess am still thinking about it, but I would rather simply purchase “another� Overland at $80.00 than spend $50.00+ on an Xmod. I guess I could think of it as another tinker toy. And to my point, lately, a few of the Zers from southern California have been getting together and setting up their own RCP tracks. Perhaps, you could do the same in your area and actually set up the track layout for the Shack Tourney. Good luck either way. If you do win the $120K NSX, a road trip to Vegas might make a nice drive.

ashamans

don't care about the site(its my brothers) but i do want to here why the camera is bad(pm me if its a must)......

....i was at work when reading your comment....so i wasn't really mad at you......and a huge LOL

a note: if i ever get the time to mess w/ my xmod and fix my wound motor, it could at least hit 35...maybe 40 w/ a 130 motor...but i'll have to settle w/ the 30 mph w/ a s2

note #2: regradless......you'll be happy with which ever you buy

not #3: i wasn't arugeing that the xmod was better than the mini-z

BOBSONATOR025

Where do you find mini-z's for 80 bucks?

Tigger N. Bennie

The local HobbyTownUSA has been selling Overlands for $79.99. I purchased another BMW yesterday.

Today, I also broke down and purchased a silver Acura RSX Xmod along with the Stage 2 Motor Upgrade, All Wheel Drive Upgrade, Suspension & Steering Upgrade, Command Logic Lights, and a ZipZap Speed and Lap Counter. Over all, the best purchase may have been the light kit. I haven't tried the Speed and Lap Counter yet.

I set up the Xmod as follows:
Stage 2 10 Tooth 30k rpm yellow "Road Race" motor.
Front blue springs (stiff)
Rear red springs (soft)
4.5 degree toe-in ("Tight and curvy roads")

Quite frankly the Xmod couldn't make the turn shown in the photo with or without the cat on the track. Perhaps, I'll do a little more "spring" experimentation though I usually run stiff front springs and soft rear springs on my Mini-Zs. Perhaps, I'll try red springs on the front because the Xmod just doesn't want to turn. I'm not sure what Tigger thinks of the Xmod yet but there is a photo of him with the Xmod below. I did like the easy light kit installation.

BovineD

Haha! TNB I knew that you were going to go in sooner rather then later!

Slap the AWD drive in there and it MIGHT be able to make that turn

Seriously though TNB what do you think so far of the car? Tigger ( I assume the top one due to the stripey-ness) seems to have the disdainful paw to it. I can already see what Bennie thinks of it though!

Tigger N. Bennie

Seriously, I like the price of the light kit and the way it mounted on the body.

The Xmod already has the AWD in it and it still can't make the turn. I purchased every hop-up the local Shack had in stock other than the carrying case and a body kit some "kid" tried to sell me for aerodynamics. I didn't know whether to barf or laugh when he made that statement. I could go on but why bother.

Anyway, I hoped all the hop-ups I purchased would have made it turn better and since I never drove it stock out of the box, it's even more difficult for me to imagine how sad the steering really is compared to a Mini-Z. I mean, I still have to increase the dual rate when driving the Mini-Zs on the Mini-Tile, but it seems like I can power brake around the turns a heck of a lot faster than the Xmod can even top out at but at least you get four motors at a cheap price in the upgrade kit.

Do you really have to use the Shack radio? I may just swap crystals out and try the Xmod with a real radio--at least the AM JR I have sitting around. I'll probably set the track up "outside" later this week, charge several sets of batteries, and just attempt some different layouts and really test the radio distance and turning radius of the Xmod. All I can say is that it's a good thing the Shack is holding the tourney on a full size RCP track because it seems like the "contestants" would be all bunched up in a corner on a Mini-Tile if not a large tile RCP track.

BTW, Bennie is in the top photo and Tigger is in the bottom photo. I know it's a little confusing but I got "Tigger" first and didn't want to name Bennie "Tigger Too". Bennie is named Bennie since he is a Bengal. Neither Tigger nor Bennie got too excited over the Xmod. It was a lot more fun the other night watching Bennie chase the Overland Hummer on the offroad expansion pack up and down the hallway.

BovineD

[sm=lol.gif][sm=lol.gif][sm=lol.gif]

That is seriously funny....

Yeah, I would say tha the most disappointing thing about the Xmod when I bought it was the turning radius. The AWD seemed to help my Xmod out the most but it is still pretty pathetic. The resistor and modded tie rods that people recommend to to fix this issue is one way to go I guess, but if you ask me should not be necessary. I have not tried them yet but really do not think I should have to.

Oh and BTW TNB, you do NOT want to know how bad the steering is out of the box[X(]

Let me know what you get with the radios as I have had no luck using standard Xtals or using other controllers. I have tried the Kyosho ones and several Airtronics ones but no go.

Ah figures I would have messed up the boys! You need some movies with official speeds tests of Tigger vs Bennie vs MiniZs vs Xmods.

Also it sure looks like the RCP mats seem to have that nice "napping spot" look to them.

Devedander

Dunno how this wasn't covered by now, but the XMOD CAN NOT use standard radio gear. This is one of the huge faults in the xmod. It uses a stepper system for about 16 steps of propo steering, not the true 512 that the miniz has. Also while the radio gear looks almost hobbie class, it is not by any means.

Don't you love having to reset the steering trim every time you turn the car on?

And the steering never gets very good, first off they use a weak motor in their "servo" so it has lag in the steering, second the turning radius is just weak on these, awd, any set of springs.... never get less than a 2.5 ft turning radius.

Oh and don't go racing your Xmod too near a real rc radio, or even other xmods for that matter, the proprietary radio equipement cuts out near other sources. Hold a Prefex antenna on over an xmod and even 3 or 4 feet away the xmod will simply stop responding.

Tigger N. Bennie

BovineD,
I'd love to get some video of TNB chasing the R/Cs but it's rather difficult for me to drive and take video. Most of the time, Tigger waits for a crash but Bennie will run back and forth. And yes, the do like the feel of the RCP track. Last night when I pulled one of the corner sections off of the track, Bennie went over to the track and laid on it refusing to move.

Devedander,
Actually, the radio issue has been discussed but I don't recall in as much detail. From your post, it seems like I shouldn't even bother to change the front springs to the softer springs since they won't even help the turning radius.

For those who continue to defend the Xmod, yet have never driven a Mini-Z,
I suggest that you drive a Mini-Z on a technical RCP track for yourself and compare the cars.

Devedander

Actually soft springs up front will help the turning, grippier tires will also help and the AWD (leave out the LSD) will also help. But it will never be great at cornering. With some serious work you can really bring the steering up a bit, just never will get as good as a miniz.

Tigger N. Bennie

I'll probably put the softest springs in the front and try some harder springs in the rear. The tires do seem to grab, but it's not like I can "open" the Xmod up since it can't make the turn in its current setup. Has anyone here tried "sticking" Mini-Z tires to the Xmod? I may just glue a set of 20s all the way around on the Xmod. I usually end up using 30F on the MR-02s but 20F should give the Xmod more stick and possibly make it turn sharper if the back end will spin around. What about adding weight to the front end to help it "dig" into the track?

UKgroucho

I picked up an Xmods on a trip to the US a few weeks back (a time filler whilst I'm waiting on parts for my helicopter)... visiting my brother in California and he had a Supra so I figured some racing would be fun.
The first one went straight back to RS... defective steering. Second one is MUCH better.

Got myself all the hop ups apart from the AWD (RS were out) - so does my brother, but he has AWD fitted.

Now on to the steering thing. Maybe I'm mistaken here but my understanding (and my limited experience bears this out) is that the AWD conversion actually makes the steering radius bigger... something to do with there being less room at the front end. There are a bunch of mods for improving the steering, some mechanical (as in trim steering horn knuckles, hacking the wheel on the controler etc.) some electrical - but consensus SEEMS to be that you will see a worse turning circle with AWD. I've even seen suggestions that its a waste of time doing the electrical mods with AWD until you make more room for improved steering lock. Cannot confirm that... need to find time to play.
Do some searches on web sites and you'll find some tutorials and threads on this.

The benefit of AWD (of course) is that you can drift in a more controlled fashion. Not sure how grippy that track of yours is... maybe you should try some harder tyre combos and get it sliding .

What I do know is that my RWD only Skyline would make that turn on your track easily... I'm using it in the hallway here at home (gotta seal the new concrete floor in the garage before I can set up a track and play in there) and it turns 180 in the narrowest part of the corridor easily. My brothers Supra had a much worse turning circle and I now suspect that that is due to the AWD, will find out when he visits in a few weeks time.

Oh, I'm running soft springs at the rear (Reds) and medium (Yellow) at the front... probably not right for the AWD but I'll include that for reference.

My cats still don't know what to make of this 'critter'. The younger one, 6 month old Burmese, has run over it a couple of times (used it as a moving stepping stone), the older one just keeps a respectful distance... looks like your two have seen a lot of RC cars flying around.

UKgroucho

One more comment for Devedander... If you have to adjust the trim on the TX every time you power on then why don't you fix it on the car.... take a look at http://atomicmods.com/how_to.htm - scroll down to the "Aligning the Steering Servo" topic.

S.S.Shmavis

I don't know about the steering, but I didn't notice because I just full throttle it into oversteer w/o wiping out. [&:] Don't know if thats the case for a sticky track or not. I did the 3.3k ohm resistor mod - works like a dream - almost. Well worth the $2.50 [:-]

Tigger N. Bennie

UKgroucho,
I got the Xmod to make the turn on the RCP Track, but not "easily". Have you driven a Kyosho Mini-Z-MR-02? It would give you something to compare "easy" to if you have set up an MR-02 and driven an MR-02. I used the following "latest" set up on the Xmod:

Front springs: Changed from Blue to Red (soft)
Rear springs: Changed from Red to Blue (hard)
Front Tires: Kyosho Mini-Z-Racer 20s (soft)
Rear Tires: Kyosho Mini-Z-Racer 30s (soft, but not as soft as 20s)
Battery Position - Middle (I plan to move the battery position all the way forward before the next test run).

Of course the tire type probably doesn't mean much to anyone unless they've driven Mini-Zs or driven on an RCP Track which is also what the Shack is now distributing and holding their XRL Tournament on.

In addition, here are a sampling of the 2004 XRL National Tournament rules so far:
*Only RadioShack XMODS chassis, shells, electronics, parts, and upgrades are allowed.
*No shims are allowed anywhere on the car.
*No modifications are allowed to original XMODS chassis, shells, electronics, parts, or upgrades including weight saving measures such as drilling or cutting.
*All parts must be installed according to the directions provided in the owner's manual or upgrade directions.

http://xmodsrc.com/stopdroprace/xrl/...ey_details.php

Consequently, the tournament rules prohibit many of the mods you suggest (or S.S.Shmavis suggests) to get the Xmod to complete a basic task which in my opinion, it should already be able to accomplish. Regarding the AWD, the following ad makes it appear that the AWD should help the "cornering" and "handling" though I have read elsewhere that the AWD slows down the Xmod and effects its handling in the straights.

According to http://www.xmodsrc.com/catalog/
All Models: Handling
All-Wheel Drive Upgrade
Get a grip, already
The elusive Tuner Trifecta — traction, speed and cornering. Now you can have all three by upgrading to four-wheel drive. Less friction and a limited slip differential means ultra-efficient driving and handling. Comes with a tube of XMODS™ Gear Grease to keep moving parts running smooth and quiet. XMODS™ Custom RC Starter Kit required.

The following is from XmodsRC: http://www.xmodsrc.com/community/how...hread_id=10851

The AWD upgrade kit outfits your XMODS with a Limited Slip Differential (LSD) which gives your ride better traction and easier handling. The LSD helps you maintain traction by shifting power from a wheel that begins to slip to the other wheels that are firmly planted on the track.

*****

Slightly loosening the screws underneath each turn buckle will allow more slip in the differential. By doing this, many tuners have found that they can favor power to the front simply by making the front screws tighter than the rear.

To further reduce slip to a particular differential some have opened up the differential gear casing and packed it with grease from the AWD upgrade kit. This little trick allows the AWD kit to do its job nicely but limits the amount of slippage in the differential to maintain more consistent all-wheel traction overall. Of course a trick like this will void your warranty, so be sure you know what you're doing. There's no second chances with these type of mods.

Although it's not recommended and may reduce the life-span and performance of your AWD upgrade, some have managed to reverse the differentials in the modification to create a rear-wheel drive XMODS. This type of modification still gives the car some front end pull for handling but can increase acceleration, making your RC jump off the line. Some find the effect on their driving experience to be pretty cool, and aren't bothered by the annoying little side-effect of voiding the warranty.

While putting the gear differential on the front and the ball differential on the back gives you a biased-rear wheel drive it will definitely slow you down in tight turns. At the same time, rear-wheel drive helps prevent over steering and back-end drift.

Tigger N. Bennie

Since the last post, I moved the battery position all the way forward and did a few more test runs. The Xmod can now make it around the turn slightly better.

I also read this on page 34 of the "Super Street Guide To Xmod RC Cars".
"The only downside of using the AWD kit is that your straightaway speed will decrease, but your handling will be second to none."

Tigger N. Bennie

I was going to ignore this post, but I believe this may be what Devedander is referring: "(ST TRIM will revert to the factory setting when the controller has been turned off.)" Xmod Owner's Manual at Page 15.

"Most" transmitter radios that I know of and all the radios I own, except the new Xmod radio, will "retain" the owner-modified transmitter settings. My Futaba T3PK even has both a subtrim and trim. The subtrim can be used for "major" adjustments and the trim for "fine tuning" adjustments. Consequently, the transmitter settings don't have to be "reset" each time the R/C or the radio transmitter is turned on and the servo horn doesn't usually have to be reset once it has been initially installed and centered.