Luxury Touring Car? You bet!
Feb 24th, 2005
I have all the Xray cars since the first was released.
Somehow that
But one day I saw a pre review on one
of those magazines and I started to get interested. I called Apex
Models and they told me that the last batch with the Hudy setup tools
had just arrived.
Because I have another pivot ball
suspension car (Mugen MTX 2) I needed those setup tools (or something
very similar) and I was holding myself back due to the high price they
ask for them in our LHS's.
A very fast calculation made me think
that this combo will make the car cheaper than the Corally C4.1 in the
Portuguese market and almost the same price as the HPI Pro 3 (it was a
real disappointment to see it at the track. It handles good, but looks
terrible). No choice. The decision was made on the phone and I ordered
the car.
When I opened the box I knew
immediately what they mean by LUXURY car. This thing is absolutely
awesome. The looks of it and the quality of parts almost made me think
that it's a waste to scratch that chassis.
These pictures give you a very good
idea of what I'm talking about. They are CNC made to a level of detail
I've never seen before. My Yokomo looks like heavy equipment (and it's
also a very delicate car).
The manual is too good to be true. It's
filled with CAD drawings in color. All the exploded views and angles
make it almost impossible to make mistakes. If you have the Yokomo
World Replica you know what I mean by mistakes...
Hudy wrenches and setup system is
included in the box. Also a droop gauge and a large decal to check
track width and alignment. Those parts alone can cost around 100 USD,
but here you'll have to pay a little more to get them.
Also included are two booklets. One is
the history of Juraj Hudy (creator of the car) and the other one is a
very useful setup guide. It can used for setting up any other car,
because is points the principles of dynamic behavior of any chassis.
It may be easier to do it with the Xray
because you can adjust EVERYTHING. Here's the list:
-
Camber
-
Toe
-
Caster
-
Anti dive
-
Anti Squat
-
Wheelbase
The shocks are from
Serpent and can be adjusted from the outside. You can
change the number of holes on the piston, by pulling the shaft all the
way down to a point where it locks and the "click it" to the
appropriate number of holes. It works and it sure beats the mess of
changing pistons on a normal shock. No wonder they are used in 3
different cars - Impulse, Corally C4.1 and Xray.
Building
 |
A detail
of the central steering post (and only one). It
takes less space, it works fine and the throw is exactly the
same to both sides. |
This car has so many intelligent details about it's
design that only reinforces the idea of a well engineered piece.
It took about 4 hours to build with the excellent
Hudy wrenches included in the kit. The only detail that I find unforgivable
is the lack of a turnbuckle wrench. I didn't find it. I had to install
all the ball cups with pliers and a lot of patience. For setting up the car
this is not an acceptable method. I'll have to build my own wrench.
The pre installed bulkheads have to be disassembled
in order to install the differentials. These are the first items to build
and they are another example of perfection. The snap on covers (labyrinth
dust covers) are a perfect fit and they are very very smooth. On the first
try I installed the diff rings with the wrong face facing the balls, but
when I tuned them I immediately found it. The more complex construction part
of the diff halves is already done and it's a matter of 5 minutes to have
each of them complete and ready to install.
The rear suspension is a very well crafted piece and
very easy to install. I normally put a little grease on the shafts in order
to make it easier and in fact this suspension is a very precise fit. The
grease helped a lot.
Before mounting the arms you should install the
treaded pins that'll hold the shocks, the droop stop and the shaft lock
screws. I found out that this lock screw can only be installed on the front
lower suspension arms AFTER the shaft is inserted.
The details you'll find along the way are amazing,
small rubber O rings on the upper front suspension shaft mounts, small metal
clips to hold the CVD's in place etc etc.
These are some of the best I ever
found. There is no lock screw for the pins. The pin is retained by the inner
BB.
A small metal clip will hold the CVD against the BB in the hub.
The
suspension does not shake and move like the Yokomo. There is no need of
shims to take out slop. Everything falls into place perfectly.
|
The
aluminium bulkheads are beautifully crafted like a
metal sculpture. You can also see the very thin CVD
made of spring steel. It's light all right, no problem
with that.
Rear suspension view clearly showing the Serpent
threaded shocks.
Making adjustments on anti dive and anti squat will
not take longer than 5 minutes. |
 |
The shocks are made by Serpent and are adjustable
from the outside. However I can hardly feel the "clicks" when changing
piston holes, due to the oil inside the shock. It seems to me that'll be
very easy to have a 3 hole piston in one side and a two on the other. It
very difficult to know when the position is achieved.
I find the shocks to be of an inferior quality when compared to the rest of
the car. The front belt is very thin (3mm if I remember correctly) and this
is a way to reduce friction and waste energy. The center adjustable shaft is
very easy to adjust in order to achieve total or partial one way action.
In a scale of 1 to 10 I have to give this car a 10.
| Packaging |
10 |
| Quality of parts |
10 |
| Tools (no turnbuckle wrench) |
6 |
| Parts fit |
10 |
| Instruction manual |
10 |
| Setup instructions |
10 |
| Shocks |
8 |
| Adjustability |
10 |
| Included tools |
10 |
| Final Note |
10 |
|
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