I don't really like to do to much behind the scenes stuff. But this was a troubling build. My camera screwed up, and I lost a lot of the pictures.
Regardless, here we go.
This is an Execute XQ1s ClubRacer. I like it. It's good. If you're looking for an inexpensive touring car, buy this one.
The list of reasons to buy one is long. Xpress makes cars from plastic toys right up to high end machines. They've been in business for a long, long time. (not tamiya or team associated long, but I bought my first Xpress car in 2001..)
Much like Tamiya, this cheap car, shares geometries with it's better cousins. The swinarms, c-hubs, uprights, are all the same. There's a clear upgrade path within this chassis, and if you stock spare parts, you could switch to the better cars, and not lose your investment in spares.
Something that Xpress does, that nobody else I've seen do, is they ship decent tools with their car. The allen keys are good quality, so is the nut driver. There is a ball end, and turnbuckle wrench. There are also test gauges for doing the initial setup of all of the camber and toe links. That's a really, really nice touch. The test guages are also the blocks to stop the plastic bulkheads from tweaking in shipping, so they do a lot of jobs for this kit.
The hole in the left test guage, is the ball cup wrench. It's not perfect, but it's totally better than nothing.
Now, this is the "dumbed down" version for us new drivers. So we don't get as many camber link positions, the swingarm angles are fixed, and our ackerman choices are limited. Not.. that.. that is going to really bother anyone this thing is the target market for. And if you need those options, parts are available for making those adjustments.
Lots of things thread into plastic on this kit, so having a m3 thread forming tap is a really good idea. It cuts assembly time by 1/3.
Even the manual is really good!
Seriously, take a look for yourself: http://www.rc-xpress.com/manual/execute_xq1_manual.pdf
The build begins with getting the turnbuckles built. I think I like this as a start versus the usual 'build some diffs" you get with most kit makers. This is a good warmup.
The countershaft assembly is essentially the same as every other car on the market. But this one has nice pretty red anno. It's deep, and rich.
And here we go, assembled.
Next up is the diff, and spool. The car comes with 5000cst oil for the spool, which is stiffer than both the ghost 18 and Sakura.
Speaking of spools, here's a spool. Unglued, unscrewed, and unassembled.
Speaking of spools, here's a spool. Glued, screwed, and assembled.
It has fully enclosed drive cups. And I like that.
Now the manual has us move on to the steering gear. But lets first take a detour. This is my first kit, where all the screws were properly sorted from the factory. Check out all these baggies!
That's top notch service.
For these review cars, I don't like to "do anything" to them as I build them. But for some reason, I couldn't resist this bit of carbon for the servo mount.
I'm using the Turnigy D99 steering servo. It is cheap, and seems to be fast enough. It's not quite telepathicly fast, but it's enough that I can't blame it.
This is where my camera started to ruin my day. But all is made better with that big pile of bright red aluminum. In the background you can see the steering rack.
Next up are the suspension mounts and bulkheads. The cutouts in the chassis are odd shapes, so the bulkheads really key in well to the chassis plate. I like that.
Now here's the worst bit of the build. The manual doesn't tell you to install the red cross posts befoer the top deck. So i'm telling you now, install those red cross posts before bolting anything else to the bulkheads.
When you're installing the diff and spool, be sure to get the adjusters oriented right. The "thin" side goes down, or else you will have interference between the spool cups and the bulkhead tops.
And then the usual mundane tasks of building suspension arms. We reach one of my few criticisms of this car. The hubs don't retain the pivot pins, and instead they're captured by an end screw. This makes the hub less stiff. But it may provide some crash resistance? It's not how I'd do it.
The knuckles are interesting, in that the steering arms are separate pieces that are bolted on. On the fancier cars they're harder plastics, and or carbon.
And that's where the pictures end. Poo.
You'll need to assemble the shock absorbers. They are plastic bodied. They are also threaded. Take EXTREME care when threading the spring adjusters onto the plastic bodies. Turn it backwards until you feel the o-ring slip onto the threads, and then keep turning until you feel the thread lead in and "click". Then you can try to thread the adjuster on.
It's very, very easy to cross thread. Yes, I cross threaded one.
I'd buy another one.
This all begs the question, of where does this kit save money? Well the bulkheads are plastic. The chassis and shock towers are fiberglass. The shock bodies are plastic. It doesn't come with wheels. It doesn't come with a pinion.
.... But that's really it. I suspect this is a bit of a loss leader for Xpress.
This is a really good kit.
Soon, I'll get it on the track. And I have some useful tuning parts to put on it. Like swaybars.
