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Test and Reviews |  |
X1-CR |
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Test and Reviews | |
X1-CR |
Click on the pictures to enlarge
The Performance
How to read performance results
During season 2005 TEAM TWF8 test driver Jacco Koch from The Netherlands will provide us with information about performance of the car and engine.
Please let me introduce myself.
I am Jacco Koch 45 years and live in Amsterdam which is in Holland.
RC models has always been a great hobby of mine, I started with
airplane models and powerboats but the last twelve years my biggest interest
is nitro powered 1:8 off-road 4wd.
In 1992 I became Dutch champion in the B-class (starters-class)
Now a days we have the Brother-cup ( Dutch championship ) my best result is
the over all first place from last year.
My first car was a Kyosho Inferno with a Rex 3 port engine after
2 years I had the car upgraded to a Turbo Inferno.
Than their was the Kyosho MP 5 the MP 6 the MP7.5 and the last 2 years the Kyosho
MP 7.5 Kanai 2 and for this year the Hong Nor X1-CR.
If you look at my car history I am a real K-man so I am anxious
to see if the Hong Nor can perform at the same level in car handling and wear
of parts.
I will also review the Mega ZX 21 engine provided by Serpent Benelux.
As you may know this car is also for sale as the Jammin X1-CR
(Ofna) and the latest news is that Jamara will do the distribution for this
car in Europe.
In this review I will only use the name Hong Nor X1 CR.
When I got this car in December and started to build it I was
impressed of the quality and precision of all the parts.
I have also red Paco's building review and agree with the notes he made except
for one thing, I didn't have any troubles fitting the 3mm lock nuts into the
front and rear chassis braces.
If the car performs the same as the high quality of the kit I am sure I can
compete with the Kyosho's and the Mugens.
Below you will find the parts I will use to build into the Hong
Nor for racing the Brother-Cup Dutch Champions Ship.
Radio: Futaba 3PK pcm set to ppm
Servo's: Futaba 9451 digital for gas and
steering
Battery pack: 5 cells 1000 mAh nicad Sanyo
Receiver: Futaba ppm
Engine: Mega ZX 21 off-road race
Pipe: Hong-Nor 053 (Provided with the
car, not EFRA approved)
Clutch bell: 13 tooth (Provided with the car)
Filter: Hong-Nor (Provided with the car)
Fuel: 16 % Dynaglow from Modeltechnics
At first I would like to begin with some ideas which I think
are different for each racer.
Some swear at a specific air filter or engine.
Here are some of mine ideas about an off-road car.
I always use a one-piece servo horn and make it so that it fits
to the brake and gas linkage.
Were possible I 'll use bolts with lock nuts to prevent loosening.
I also make holes into the bumper so I can dissemble the lower arm without removing
the bumper.
This is all is very personal and doesn't mean that the servo
horn that came with the kit is not good enough.
We all have our own ideas.
OK lets start with all the good things, there are to many to name them all and
if you read Paco's building review you will find them all.
There is a minor that's already been taken care of in the factory.
However for those who already have a X1 CR.
The shock body top is to sharp and cuts the pressure top if you tighten it a
little to fast. (see picture below)
All my shock pressure caps were cut. I didn't have any spare so I used Kyosho
caps and tight it softly.
I shall try to remove the sharp edge and use original caps (when I have them)
and see if this solves the problem. I will come back to this issue.
 |
The real problem of the shock
bladders snapping is caused by the shock caps having a extra edge in the
shock cap. The left hand one is the modified one were the right hand side one is the wrong one. Together with a extra sharp edge this causes problems. Hong Nor has addressed the problem and new shock caps are as the left ones. Paco Raap |
One other thing is the front shock absorber (the rear is OK)
in my opinion the shock body isn't long enough. (about 5 mm)
If you take a look at the pictures you will see that the shock shaft is to high
and will damage the pressure cap after a while.
The shaft reaches the top in the upper position.
I will ask the factory what they think of this problem.
Regarding the issue mentioned above we got the following information and parts directly from Hong Nor president David Wu.
 |
As result of the pictures shown
above Hong Nor has made some prototype 4 mm for front and rear longer shock
bodies. The shock shafts stayed the same. When mounted on the car in standard set up there was a little more droop of around 2 mm |
 |
As result the top of the piston/shock shaft is not touching the shock bladder anymore. |
The car performance was OK the first time I drove this car I
had the idea I had this car for years already.
All drivers I spoke had the same idea so the conclusion is that the car performs
well with the set-up from the box.
Another pro is the plastic with cold weather. I have driven the indoor Holland
below 0°C and didn't break a thing so the plastic will do fine.
Next week I am going on ski vacation and after that I have two
weeks for the first real race.
I hope I can practice a lot and work on the car set-up to get the best out of
the car.
Hello to you all,
The first performance test of the X1 CR went very well.
Although I had engine problems during the A-final I was happy with the car.
In the morning during the qualifying sessions, it was clear
that this car could compete with all the other brand cars.
As the Hong Nor 9.5 was not fast enough for the Kyosho's and the Mugens, the
X1-CR performed very well.
The second qualifying time was very good, I hope that after some more practice
and fine-tuning it will be even better.
Practice started on Saturday and after half an hour, one of
the front swing shafts broke in 2 pieces.
Don't know what caused this problem but I replaced it for a new one and hope
it was a one-time incident.
Later that day I crashed backwards and my rear shock tower broke however, after
such a big crash you can expect something breaks.
If anybody has similar or other problems please give me a mail so I can find
out if some problems happen more than others.
I started practice with new modified shock absorbers I got from
the factory.
These absorbers have a longer shock body and a modified cap.
The new absorbers performed well but I replaced them for the standard kit shock
absorbers that I modified myself.
These were filled with thicker oil and had stronger springs (white type)
Next time I will tell you more about the new factory absorbers and the standard
modified absorbers, as I want to do some more testing.
As I already told you qualifying went great and the car performed
above my expectations, after two qualifying sessions I was faster than all the
others. (48 drivers)
However the last run one of my friends who drives a 777 was a little faster
and during my last session the engine failed and turned off so I could not improve
his time.
I was satisfied with the set-up and performance of the car so
I didn't change the car for the half finals.
After the start of the half final, I was in the lead until after 8 minutes the
engine turned off for no reason.
I had to climb from ninth position and finely became fourth
which is good enough for the A-final.
I checked the engine but could not find a reason why it turned off which is
not a good sign.
After the start of the A-final (30 minutes) I was on second position but after the first pit stop the engine stopped after starting the engine again the engine stopped several times, after 20 minutes I decided to stop and all that was left was eighth place.
OK I was disappointed because it could have been a podium place.
But the feeling about the car was good and I am sure I will solve the engine
problem so next time will be better.
Below you will find the set-up I used in Purmerend they have
a rather flat artificial grass with some jumps.
FRONT:
MIDDLE: REAR:
Camber:
- 2 deg.
- 2 deg.
Toe.....................out 2 deg ...........................................................in
3 deg
Caster:
standard
Caster A/B: B
Diff
Torsen
Torsen STD (1,000 oil)
Springs:
Silver
White
Space:
5.mm
5.mm
Tower:
middle
middle
Oil:
500
400
Pistons:
2 x 1.4
2 x 1.4
Stabilizer:
2.5
2.8
Clutch:
alloy 3 point with 1.0 springs.
Bell:
13
Tires:
Ho Bao
Keep in mind this is also a personal matter so a copy is no guarantee for a
good performance.
Hello everybody,
As promised, a small item how to modify your shock absorbers.
Remove the edge from the shock-cap using a lathe.
If you cannot do this yourselves ask anybody at your club, there is always one
who owns a lathe and is also willing to help you.
Now the cap is the same as the new developed cap.
On the left, you can see the new factory cap, in the middle the old cap, on the right the cap I modified myself.
Make sure that the shock-body has no sharp edges at the screw
thread.
If necessary remove sharp edges and make sure that the shock body cannot cut
into the pressure cap
To prevent that the front shock/piston shaft can hit the shock
pressure cap put an old O-ring at the outside of the shock shaft.
Notice that the O-ring must be above the bottom spring retainer.
This will cost you 2-3 mm of the shock working length but the shock pressure
cap will not break.
As I wrote this (9 May) 2 more races are done, one Club-Race
that did not went very well, I had some engine problems.
However the last race was an endurance race of 3 hours which I drove with 2
other drivers (both Mugen)
We ended at first place.
The car performed very well and lap times were OK.
What satisfied me most was that during these 2 races nothing broke from the
X1 CR, so it seems that durability is good.
Next race will be at an other circuit which is very different
from the flat artificial grass we have at our club.
This circuit is very bumpy and has some carpet, grass and sand. Enough to do
on the cars set-up, in my next review I will let you know what set-up I used
and how the car performed.
Hi to you all,
Last Race was cancelled on Sunday due to computer problems. ( First time in ????? years.)
So therefore, it's difficult to say if the set-up I used on
Saturday practice was good, I have no comparison with the other drivers.
The car felt good but that's no guaranty for fast lap times.
This circuit is hard for the car that performed well and during practice nothing
broke, sofare the car.
Further news from the factory.
The new shock absorbers will soon be released as an option part.
Also coming soon new thicker (5 mm) shock-towers with more adjustment possibilities.
(For the new shock absorbers.)
Further, some option parts to make the car lighter, Light weight chassis, Alum
center diff. post, Light weight diff joint cap. (Front and center)
2.jpg)
If you like other colors and want something else than other drivers, new colored (silver) radio, front, center carbon plates will soon be available..
It does not make your car faster or better but some drivers like other colors.
Hello Racers,
First some factory news,
As I received the new option parts I was surprised with shock absorbers that
had new caps.
The new caps have more volume above the pressure seal so the shock absorber
moves smoother up and down due to less pressure into the absorber.
Also a small bleeding hole is present which makes it easy to screw the cap to
the absorber without building up pressure.
The new 5 mm shock stays are only a few grams heavier than the
old ones, but looked stronger to me. (Time will tell.)
I have done some weight measurements below you will find the results.
Special chassis 259.3 gr ( standard 287.5 )
5 mm shock stay front 25.0 gr ( standard 20.6 )
5 mm shock stay rear 34.6 gr ( standard32.7 )
2 x Cap joint 19.2 gr ( standard 21.2 )
If have also made a new battery pack 5 AAA GP 850 mah which
is almost 40 grams lighter than the 1000 mah that I used.
This all made my car about 75 grams lighter which is pretty much.
I have also mounted the special brake pads (option) in combination
with only 1 brake disk.
Brakes performed well but last race was on loose sand so you don't need much
brake.
I will let you know if I am satisfied after a race on artificial grass where
brakes are really important.
It is nice to see how fast Hong Nor develops new parts or uses
other materials as the old parts gave problems.
If you have any trouble with your car or parts let me know, it will help the
factory to develop better parts what results in a better car.
Last race (3 July) went great, it was very difficult for the
car and the engine due to hot weather and a lot of dust.
Track conditions were rough, lots of bumps and loose sand so no grip.
I started practice with a set-up that I got from Jamie Booth. (See below.)
After the first qualifying I changed the oil of the rear absorbers (Softer)
which made the car easier on the rear.
I qualified fifth and became first in the semi final.
The final resulted in a second place just behind Iwan Latev (Mugen) who drove
an excellent final with no mistakes.
The X1-CR was a little faster but I made a few small mistakes so I couldn't
get closer and the difference stayed about 10 seconds.
Next Race will be at the end of August at the same circuit so I can use the same set-up.
FRONT:
MIDDLE: REAR:
Camber:
- 1 deg.
- 1deg.
Toe.....................out 1deg ...........................................................in
2.5deg
Caster:
standard
Caster A/B: B
Diff
Torsen
STD (7000 oil) STD (1,000
oil)
Springs:
Bleu
Bleu
Space:
2.mm
10.mm
Tower:
inside
middle
Arms:
outer
outer
Oil:
600
350
Pistons:
2 x 1.5
2 x 1.5
Stabiliser:
std
std
Clutch:
plastic 3 point with 1.0 springs.
Bell:
13
Tires: Turbo's
For those how will have vacation soon, have some nice weather and lots of fun with racing.
Hello to you all,
Good news, I won the last two Brother-cup races.
I am in first place now there are two more races this season so I have good
chances to win the overall title again but a proverb say's, don't sell the skin
before you shoot the beer.!!!!!!????
Both circuits were difficult with lots of holes, bumps, dust and we had hot
weather.
There were a lot of drivers that had lots of troubles with there cars and engines,
the X1 gave no troubles at all and again nothing broke also the engine R&B
WS7 gave no trouble.
Maybe it sounds strange but after 7 races and some practice
there is not much to tell about the car and I mean things that are not good.
Of course, I can tell a lot of things about the car how great it is and how
it performs well, but you will understand that if I can win races and beat the
Mugens and Kyosho's that we are talking about a good car. I think reviews are
done to pick the bad things and see how to solve these.
That brings me to one thing that happened a few times during
the beginning of this season, the brake cams kept hanging so the brakes dragged
a little bit.
First I tried cleaning and ad some grease between the break pad an the brake
cam but sand kept hanging on the grease what resulted in more dragging.
I have red several solutions at starting grid but the one I used was most simple
and easy to do without disassemble anything.
Take a little piece of fuel tube and cut it transverse, put
it on the brake linkage between the knurled stopper and brake cam actuator.(see
picture)
The brake cam is now pushed back as you pull the throttle.
Make sure that the length of the tube is not to long, make it so that it will
not be possible (with full throttle) to activate the brake. (The other way)
One thing must be kept in mind, as after braking, the brake drags, it will keep
dragging until throttle is given.
I hope the factory will develop a brake system that will prevent draging.
I got some pictures from the factory with new option parts nice
new lighter wheels also the other parts are made lighter.
This will make your car lighter but I can hear you think those view grams is
it that important? Well these new parts are all rotating and maybe you don't
know but the less rotating mass the better steering for your car.
Special chassis 259.3 gr ( standard 287.5 )
5 mm shock stay front 25.0 gr ( standard 20.6 )
5 mm shock stay rear 34.6 gr ( standard 32.7 )
2 x Cap joint 19.2 gr ( standard 21.2 )
4 x Alum. center diff. post 9.0 gr ( standard 22.0 )
1 x Lightweight wheel 35.7 gr (standard depends on sulplier
± 41 gr)
6 x Alum.crosspin axle 5.1gr (standard 14.4 )
2 x Brake cap joint lightweight 22.3 gr (standard 21.1)
2 x Universal joint lightweight front 47.2 ( standard 53.7)
2 x Universal joint lightweight center 45.1 ( standard 51.6)
2 x Universal joint lightweight rear 46.4 ( standard 53.3)
These option parts makes your car about 50 gr lighter best part, it is all rotating which will give your car better cornering.
Below you find the set-up I used, you can copy it but keep in mind it is also personal.
FRONT:
MIDDLE: REAR:
Camber:
- 1 deg.
- 1deg.
Toe.....................out 1deg ...........................................................in
2.5deg
Caster:
standard
Caster A/B: B
Diff
Torsen
STD (7000 oil) STD (1,000
oil)
Springs:
Bleu
Bleu
Space:
2.mm
10.mm
Tower:
middle
middle
Arms:
inner
inner
Oil:
600
350
Pistons:
2 x 1.5
2 x 1.5
Stabiliser:
std
std
Clutch:
plastic 3 point with 1.1 springs.
Bell:
13
Tires: Turbo's
Hello everybody,
This time not very good news, I did not win the overall Brother-cup.
I became 1 point short and so Iwan latev with the MBX 5 won the cup (middle)
and I became second (left) as Wouter Bouwens was third.(right)
My best results were always on sandy and bumpy circuits, but last two races
were on the circuit in Purmerend, which has artificial grass and I knew that
Iwan always performs very well over there.
I will tell you short how these two races went.
The seventh race did not work out very well and I became sixth in the A-final
which was not enough for the champions ship.
The last race became very interesting I had to finish before Iwan to become
champion.
Therefore, I started practice Saturday morning very early. I new that I had
to make the performance better at the artificial grass.
After some changes to the set-up, the car was more stable after the jumps and
performed much better during cornering.
Thanxs to Rene van Schaijk (five times Dutch champion) who help me to find a
good set-up.
This resulted in one off the most thrilling A-final I have ever driven.
Very close driving, some laps were done with only 10cm between us without touching
each other.
I was a little faster but Iwan almost never makes mistakes even when he is under
pressure and so Iwan became third and I was fourth with only 10 seconds between
us.
Unfortunately this result was in the advantage of Iwan but we had a lot of "fun".
Well, some times you win and some times you lose.
Next year I will have to practice to make less faults and than I am sure that
I can win the Brother-cup again with this car.
Lets talk about the car.
When I accepted driving one season X1 CR I was a little skeptic, but now my
conclusion can only be that this car is a very good high performance buggy which
can compete all other brand cars.
The performance is great and its reliability is awesome, not one time the car
broke during a final.
The wear is almost the same as all other cars.
During qualification of the last two races I broke one shock absorber and a
front bumper both were noticed after finishing.
More factory news.
There are completely new developed hard coated big bore shock absorbers.
Uses 13 mm pistons.
New compensation bladders.
New shock caps using plastic inserts and bleeding hole.
These are standard on the new X1 CRT and can be used as an option
on the X1-CR.
Also new is a rear upper arm with an other shape which prevents that the rear
wheel can touch the upper arm.
Unfortunately, the big bores were not in time for the last race but I will use
them the next view weeks and make a separate review about these shocks.
The X1 CRT will soon be reviewed at TWF 8.
Below you find the set-up I used, you can copy it but keep in mind it is also personal.
FRONT:
MIDDLE: REAR:
Camber
- 2 deg.
- 3 deg.
Toe
out 1deg
in 2.5deg
Caster:
standard
Caster A/B: B
Diff
Torsen
STD (10.000 oil)
STD (1,000 oil)
Springs:
white
white
Space:
0.mm
4.mm
Tower 5 mm: middle/upper
middle/lower
Arms:
outer
outer
Oil:
600
400
Pistons: 2
x 1.4
2 x 1.4
Stabiliser: 2.5
2.8
Clutch:
plastic 3 point with 1.1 springs.
Bell:
13
Tires:
Allegi cross
Hello,
I have tested the new Big Bore absorbers and can tell you that
they perform well.
Two weeks ago, I was pleased, when new springs arrived so I could test the new
BB also with different springs.
As you can see on the picture, there are Bleu (hard) Red (medium) and Yellow
(soft) springs.
I started testing the new BB at my home circuit with artificial grass.
There is a jump where my car is sometimes unpredictable when it lands.
I had front 600 oil and rear 500 and bleu springs. I was not satisfied but after
I had changed the bleu springs for the softer yellow it felt like the car was
doing better landing after the jump.
However, it must be kept in mind that during testing there were no lap times
and since our racing season is over, I will have to wait until February at the
Indoor Holland for testing under race circumstances.
If you like to know more about shocks and springs take a look
this isue, oil and springs are compared based on measurements.
http://www.twf8.ws/new/tech/shocks/shocksspringindex.html
When I got home I removed the BB shocks to see how the bladders
were doing.
It seems that they work pretty good as there was no air into the shock absorber
and no oil into the shock cap also the bladders were intact.
Therefore, my conclusion so fare is that these new chocks perform well.
I have a small item left where, some of you can have some advantage
as you can make a brake disk yourselves, as there is no option part yet.
When I was cleaning my car last summer I noticed that the brake pads surface
was not completely used.( I use the special brake pads with one disk front and
rear, no springs between the pads)
The diameter of a standard disk is 30 mm and a 36 mm can be used. (Only in the
front as in the rear, a bigger one will touch your clutch bell.)
A small calculation will show that using a 36mm disk will give
you 50% more brake surface.
Now I can hear you think do I need more brake???
Well if you don't, you can always set your servo brake level lower what will
relieve your servo, which will extend your servo life.
Also the servo will consume less amperage.
When I told the factory of this idea, they made me a 36 mm disk.
I have used it at the artificial grass where my theory was answered.
The car went over it front wheels as I used the brake full.
I had to reduce brake level in the front to set my brakes, so they performed
as I am used to.
As some of you give me mail with questions, which I always appreciate,
and when they are useful for others I write about it.
This time I got some guestions about car geometry and set-up.
After some e-mail exchanges I got a tip to take a look at the web-side below.(Thanks
Eduardo)
"R/C Car Handling-An introduction to Vehicle Dynamics" http://users.pandora.be/elvo/
This web-side is very useful for those who really try to understand car set-up.
If you are interested take a look.
So fare this review, I am going to overhaul my car now for the
next season which will start with the Indoor Holland 2006 in February.
As I receive factory news about new parts or development, I will write about
it in this review.
If you want to know things about the HN X1 CR please feel free and ask, you can contact me on the e-mail adress below.
Grtzzzzzz Jacco
Beside Jacco my father ran the X1-CR last year.
For the 2006 season I made some modification to the car.
Mod 1 is to the fueltank. I took some material from the splash
guard and fitted it with two screws to the top of the fuel tank.
I used shoe-goo to seal the screws.
This mod makes it easier to work on the center differential.
Also the fuel filter holder is now attached to the splash guard.
Mod 2 is the muffler wire.
When you change a muffler or header the length is never the same.
The stock muffler wire is not easy to access.
It also is placed at an angle.
When your muffler length is different you need a new muffler wire.
Also the length of this muffler wire is critical as it can touch the left steering
arm.
This modification makes it easy to move the muffler wire forth and backwards.
With the new nufller wire it also prevents the tip from
breaking off as it is flexible (a needed mod for the CRT!!!).
We used an old engine block from a Mugen MBX-4.Drilled two extra holes and used
4 mm set screws for securing the mufller wire.
The muffler, muffler wire holder and new curled shaped 2 mm
muffler wire placed in final position.
In a to be custom made new smaller muffler wire holder the set screws for fixing
the muffler wire can be reached from the bottom with ease.
Mod 3 is the brake rods.
I made the same, one level system as the Thunder Tiger EB-4 S3.
No fumbling anymore with the lower brake rod.
Also I did some rework on the brake cams.
It prevents, when the brake rods are moving in the direction of the fuel tank
and unpurposely activate drag brake
when the throttle is applied.
The brake rods can have resistance and move the brake cam wires to far and lock
up.
I removed the part that can activate the brake pads in throttle position with a high speed tool.
Installed at the place where the material is removed a small
screw on the front upper differential holder..
Shown here is the front side of the front upper differential holder.
Remember if you make this modification that the rear is different!
Here the rear upper differential holder.
More to come, regards Paco
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Taiwan |