XRAY - Model racing cars

Good:
-Great parts, bulletproof almost.
-Easy to tune
-Overall good car
Bad:
-No Li-Po only chassis option
-Not much room for ballast weight
-Expencive

5 things I like about the car:
1: Runs straight out of the box and easy to drive

2: Almost bullet proof

3: The diff

4: Inexpensive parts

5: The chassis flex adjustment system


5 Things to change:
1: Aluminium shocks included in the kit and if it doesn't get to expensive then also consider to include ECS drive shafts in the kit

2: Make the car Lipo ready in terms of allowing you to move weight more freely. Make room at the electronics side so the ESC, receiver, servo and motor can be mounted easily. On the battery side there should be space to put weight blocks. If possible narrow the bulkheads closer to each other so the motor can get closer to the center-line thus making it easier to balance the car with Lipos mounted.

3: Some people have mentioned more options to adjust the roll center and instead of just making more different suspension holders, a solution could look like this: <-- Here the roll-center is adjusted by shims and therefore it's easier to fine adjust the RC

4: When tensioning the belts and the diff eccentric holders are adjusted there should be some sort of dot that makes it easier to see the knot (the thingy that slots in to the bulkhead)

5: All the hex-screws in the car should be the same size including the screws that hold the uprights, c-hubs and shocks

First of all. I'm driving XRAY cars since the firts T1 chassis so.... I liked the car. I think you release too many options that could be included on the next year chassis but....here you have my 5 + and 5 -

Like:

1) Ready to run with box setup

2) Bullet proof

3) The better diff in the market

4) Quality parts and optionals

5) Flex system


Things to change or adapt:

1) Aluminum Shock body and ECS systems must be included on kit but with the same price we get right now or lower.

2) Now is the time. The car must be LiPo ready with proper balance and slots for weight under the battery.

3) Diferent colors avaliable.

4) The new closed balljoint included on the kit like you had on XRAY T1 EVO.

5) More shims whith sizes increments of 0.1mm (0.1; 0.2; 0.3..... 1mm) on the kit to prevent any play on links or other parts.

The car is great but I really think, as a dealer, that you must have an RTR TC car. Like you have on 1/18 kits.

I like:

1. The engineering and longevity quality of the kit
2. The quality of the manuals
3. The wide sweet spot of the 008 and 009
4. Quick Ackermann adjustment
5. Speed of spur gear change

I would like to see:

1. Irrespective of what the team drivers say the aluminium shocks are too difficult to bleed and leak too much. Quite a few XRAY drivers in our club have swapped to other shocks so I can’t be wrong . In club meets there is not enough time between races to refurb four shocks.

2. Similarly on the design of the drive shaft/axle joint, especially on the ECS drives – the pins come adrift too frequently,

3. For spares sell the ECS drive shaft, axle and connection frame separately (apologies if that is the case but I have not seen them!). On the ECS a pin coming adrift can easily damage one of these and you have to buy the complete kit to replace one of the components.

4. Update the manual to include details and comment on the new stuff since the T2

Here are my 5 pros (here more than 5) and only 4, but pretty fundamental suggestions for improvement:

+ great parts quality
+ general tolerances f.e. of the CFK parts
+ awesome setup-book and instruction manual
+ very smooth diff
+ great ball bearings
+ nice orange colour
+ possibility of adjusting the diff without having to disassemble anything
+ although it is not mentioned frequently, I have to admit I love the body posts with the movable body holders at the top (not that stupid clip like in other cars)


I would suggest the following improvements:

1. please stop this extrem-lightweight-trend with parts like the rear drive shafts which were made of aluminium in the 009; I don't know any even serious racer who cares about the part beeing 1 or 2 grams lighter but with soo much reduced lifespan/crash resistance
-> better you make those important parts not lighter until they get so easily breakable, but you don't use steel screws but titan screws in the kit! That means a total weight reduction of about 35 grams! That's what I call effective!

2. make a car which can really benfit from the lightness of a LiPo battery! I would move the electronics side as close as possible to the centerline; especially the motor should get special attention here: Schumacher already showed one solution possibility with the release of their Mi-4 chassis: they designed that aluminium-ring, into which you insert the motor. If you use LiPos you can stick the motor more into the ring and turn the shaft with the spur gear around (long front belt at the right side of the chassis - moves the light LiPo side more outside and the electronics side closer to the centerline => ) - see here: http://img-up.net/?up=mi4_motorFGr58AV.jpg
Such an average LiPo is about 200 grams lighter than a 6 cell pack, that means we could theoratically drive around with a weight of about 1250 grams! Imagine the gain in speed, maneuverability and the minus in tire wear!

3. the price is already - let's say not cheap - but you get a good quality for it. I could get over a further increase of 15% (that is at least about 68 Euros recommended retail price = about 95 USD) if you include usable aluminium dampener and those ECS - shafts in the front; a third thing would be aluminium steering arms as they wear out pretty fast in plastic version. Also a must: a BIG "last-aid bag" that includes all those little clips (of each 1 piece included) for which you normally would never buy a pack of 10 as spare parts and pins as well as maaany aluminium spacers (also for example one or two balls for the diff which get lost veery easily during re-built)
-> herfore do not include a spur gear as well as oils and lubrication things in the kit - we have competition level here and racers already have those things

4. in my personal opinion the steering unit has too much tolerance, especially after the first 50 or 100 runs. Maybe you could think about a solution like the Tamiya cars have without the servo mount standing out of the side chassis (LiPo height about 24mm, servo less than that, so you should theoratically be able to move it under the topdeck; also contributes to LiPo left/right weight distribution! - also as close to the front as possible in order to gain more room for big electronics such as BL ESCs)

So I really thought about the whole issue and tried to explain it here; I hope I get heard.

If that works, I am convinced Xray will gain even more in popularity.

Thanks.

Greetings,
Patrick

5 I like
Quality of the components
Instruction Manual
Setup Book
Diffs - these are awesome
Each small change you make to your settings changes how the car behaves (there are other cars where you can change many settings and the feel of the car doesn't change)

5 things in the next car
Lipo compatibility - have a good way to hold the Lipo's in and balance the car - TOP Photon for suggestions
Improve the servo saver arrangement - they do allow for play after several runs
Keep extra's optional - ECS driveshafts and alloy shocks are two big examples - this will keep the price down - especially in this economic climate
Quality must remain high
Go for strength & durability rather than lightweight materials. - we are all racers ranging from novices to pro's and if we want the lightweight parts we will buy them as extras

5 Likes:
Quality of all materials
Diffs
Holes in shocks adjustable without disassembly
Almost crashproof
Manuals

Would like to see in the future:
Main chassis wider, allowing protection of electronics, all types of lipos, better balance due to lipo being further out,

ECS's and alu shocks included in kit for same price

Wider range of ratios

Less concerne with weigh, thus making parts fragile

Other position for the servo, thus increasing space for electronics

5 things I like:

1. Parts quality, fit and finish are second to none
2. Externaly adjustable diffs are the best
3. Adjustable shocks brilliant
4. Car reacts to changes good or bad
5. Easy to work on (if needed)

5 things I would like to see:

1. A car that is actually brushless and lipo ready
2. Keep including all of the higher end options in the kit so you dont have to buy them seperate
3. Make smaller tooth 64p spur gears
4. If your going to make the car in color make more colors available or stick to the origanal silver color
5. Update the set-up book

Overall Xray have done a great job. I have had all of the TCs sence the beginning. (not the 009 to ugly) I cant wait for the new car hopefully around the new year!

What I like:

1) high durability (Except for aluminum axles and composite diff in the T2R Pro)
2) easy to drive and fast
3) lots of setup options and many set up sheets online
4) quality of parts
5) reasonable price

What I would like to see in the next car:
1) compatibility to the parts of previous models (so you can still use the spare parts of your old car)
2) not leaking shocks, (Alu or composite doesnt matter), change the adjustable system so that it doesnt influence droop (if the rod is turned and is in the notch there is more travel than if it is in between two notches).
3) make the lower roll center easier to adjust
4) make the car ready for Lipo out of the box (no need for optional lipo weights/kits)
5) ECS shafts should be more durable and all parts should be available as a single part (also the connecting part between inner and outer axle)
6) dont change material to stuff that is not as durable as the old stuff (like the aluminum axles)