Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
01-02-2009, 01:42 PM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
JtKirk, the Z-Car is well suited for brushless power, it has many innovative features, but it has one item that really caught my eye, the rear brake mounted on the rear diff. You see all my 1/8's are converted to brushless (truggy and buggies), but I am an old nitro convert and I prefer the feel, adjustability (bias) of mechanical brakes and it takes some of the load off the ESC. The problem is with most conversions the mech rear brake is mounted on the center diff and to get enough motor clearence for the rear brake you have to space the motor way back, which has two adverse impacts, it moves the CG too far back and more importantly puts a lot of extra stress on the front motor bearing. With the Z-Car the brake is mounted on the rear diff and you don't need to use a motor spacer. The only other available buggy to have this setup is the Hyper 9 but at half the price I figured I could convert a Z-car and see how it performs with a minimal investment. Also most conversions are based on nitro platforms which has the chassis brace on the left side, most brushless conversions have the motor on the left side and the brace gets in the way and limits gearing options. I reloacted the brace to the right side and now have a full range of gearing options. Now I just need to finish my battery tray, add the ESC and I should be good to go.
Relocated the rear chassis brace to the other side for more motor clearence.
[
No need for a motor spacer to clear the rear brakes. And you can see how the relocated chassis brace gives you more clearence
Made a quickie motor mount and top plate to test the drivetrain.
Brake linkage
Whilel I was at it I made some Front and rear skids to protect the chassis.
Relocated the rear chassis brace to the other side for more motor clearence.
[
No need for a motor spacer to clear the rear brakes. And you can see how the relocated chassis brace gives you more clearence
Made a quickie motor mount and top plate to test the drivetrain.
Brake linkage
Whilel I was at it I made some Front and rear skids to protect the chassis.
01-02-2009, 06:48 PM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
ORIGINAL: Shark413
JtKirk, the Z-Car is well suited for brushless power, it has many innovative features, but it has one item that really caught my eye, the rear brake mounted on the rear diff. You see all my 1/8's are converted to brushless (truggy and buggies), but I am an old nitro convert and I prefer the feel, adjustability (bias) of mechanical brakes and it takes some of the load off the ESC. The problem is with most conversions the mech rear brake is mounted on the center diff and to get enough motor clearence for the rear brake you have to space the motor way back, which has two adverse impacts, it moves the CG too far back and more importantly puts a lot of extra stress on the front motor bearing. With the Z-Car the brake is mounted on the rear diff and you don't need to use a motor spacer. The only other available buggy to have this setup is the Hyper 9 but at half the price I figured I could convert a Z-car and see how it performs with a minimal investment. Also most conversions are based on nitro platforms which has the chassis brace on the left side, most brushless conversions have the motor on the left side and the brace gets in the way and limits gearing options. I reloacted the brace to the right side and now have a full range of gearing options. Now I just need to finish my battery tray, add the ESC and I should be good to go.
Relocated the rear chassis brace to the other side for more motor clearence.
[
No need for a motor spacer to clear the rear brakes. And you can see how the relocated chassis brace gives you more clearence
Made a quickie motor mount and top plate to test the drivetrain.
Brake linkage
Whilel I was at it I made some Front and rear skids to protect the chassis.
JtKirk, the Z-Car is well suited for brushless power, it has many innovative features, but it has one item that really caught my eye, the rear brake mounted on the rear diff. You see all my 1/8's are converted to brushless (truggy and buggies), but I am an old nitro convert and I prefer the feel, adjustability (bias) of mechanical brakes and it takes some of the load off the ESC. The problem is with most conversions the mech rear brake is mounted on the center diff and to get enough motor clearence for the rear brake you have to space the motor way back, which has two adverse impacts, it moves the CG too far back and more importantly puts a lot of extra stress on the front motor bearing. With the Z-Car the brake is mounted on the rear diff and you don't need to use a motor spacer. The only other available buggy to have this setup is the Hyper 9 but at half the price I figured I could convert a Z-car and see how it performs with a minimal investment. Also most conversions are based on nitro platforms which has the chassis brace on the left side, most brushless conversions have the motor on the left side and the brace gets in the way and limits gearing options. I reloacted the brace to the right side and now have a full range of gearing options. Now I just need to finish my battery tray, add the ESC and I should be good to go.
Relocated the rear chassis brace to the other side for more motor clearence.
[
No need for a motor spacer to clear the rear brakes. And you can see how the relocated chassis brace gives you more clearence
Made a quickie motor mount and top plate to test the drivetrain.
Brake linkage
Whilel I was at it I made some Front and rear skids to protect the chassis.
01-03-2009, 12:32 AM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
ORIGINAL: firebird78
last I seen....Hobby people has the sh z buggy on sale for $199....that cheap
last I seen....Hobby people has the sh z buggy on sale for $199....that cheap
[:'(]
01-03-2009, 01:38 AM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
ORIGINAL: JtKirk
Not anymore [:'(]
ORIGINAL: firebird78
last I seen....Hobby people has the sh z buggy on sale for $199....that cheap
last I seen....Hobby people has the sh z buggy on sale for $199....that cheap
[:'(]
I am telling you if you saw the kit and examined teh quality of teh plastic and metal, saw teh engineering behind it, it would be worth it
01-03-2009, 04:46 PM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
Some updated pictures of my Z-Car conversion. Added the MMM, rx box, battery tray and some Proline Revolver tires. Took it for a test run and found that the stock springs are way too soft even with max preload, until I can get some stiffer springs I may replace the shocks with some Kyosho Big Bores.
Here is the buggy the Z-Car is competing agains't, my brushless Kyosho 777 sp2.
Side-by-side
Here is the buggy the Z-Car is competing agains't, my brushless Kyosho 777 sp2.
Side-by-side
01-03-2009, 04:52 PM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
They look awsome!!! what motor r u using in the Z-Car
Also do u have some sort of noise filter in it?
Also do u have some sort of noise filter in it?
01-05-2009, 08:30 AM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
WHats interestig is teh relative straightness of teh drivetrain.
Its very close to straight, make for nice efficiency!
Its very close to straight, make for nice efficiency!
01-06-2009, 12:46 AM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
JtKirk, the motor in the pictures is a TeknoNeu 1515/2.5D square can motor (2700kv). It's actually more suited for a truggy but I wanted to try it in my buggy since I had it laying around. It is lighting fast on 4s and yet very controllable. I have a 1512/2D (2600kv) in my Kyosho, and I may try it in the Z-Car as well. It is a smaller/lighter motor, so it should improve handling and acceleration even more, but I am kind of liking the bigger square can motor. Noise filter? I am not running any noise filter, I have seen some on some cheaper ESC's (ferrite ring) but the Monster Mamba Max is top notch no glitching or clogging issues. You may be refering to the extra cap (Novak transcap) on the ESC, I added that for a little extra insurance, but it's probably not needed.
01-06-2009, 12:57 AM
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RE: Anyone own a SH Z-Car ZMXB-8 1/8 Buggy
I got it on the track this weekend and it was amazing, handling was excellent and it jumped straight and true. I had a little issue dialing in the rear suspension (using Kyosho Big Bores) but I am still dialing in the setup. There were several 1/8 buggies running and the Z-Car in my opinion was as fast and had better handling IMO. There are a couple of tricky sections that if you don't hit the spots just right your gonna crash and burn, well I didn't miss my spot once and the other buggies crashed at least once per lap. I believe this is due to the excellent handling that lets you concentrate on your line and not about how your buggy is bouncing around or sliding out. I also noticed it spooled up (accelerated) faster than the other buggies, I think this was because of the lighter drive train (smaller diffs like the new Kyosho M9, thin drive shafts, milled outdrives, etc.).
