Test and Reviews

X1-CR

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Verdict

This was the second buggy we build produced by Hon Nor.
Quality on parts and finishing of this X1-CR PRO only got better and some technical enhancements were carried out.
The car went together flawlessly and no real problems could be found.
Only upgrade we would advise to buy with this car is the bolt/nut type hinge pins.
The patented C-hub T-shape bolts are unique and make maintenance and durability on these parts a breeze.

The fitting of the parts in general is good. No need for extra tools like drill bits or files to get the parts fitted.
Tolerance and clearance is 100% OK.
The English/Japanese manual is crisp and clear although it contains some minor mistakes. 
This manual is OK for novice and experienced drivers.
Concerning packaging of the parts in combination with the manual we had some issues we would have liked to be changed by Hong Nor.
Not each bag refers to a step in the manual.
So some parts need to be collected from bags that are not yet needed for the particular step of building so more bags are open at one time.

The car does not comes with radio gear and engine.
Header and a 053 look a like muffler are included in our kit.
Same for the Monza tyres, hard inserts and the yellow 17 mm wheel adapter sized disk rims.

All the steel has a high carbon contents and is heat treated and then the case is hardened. 
All the aluminum is CNC machined from T6-7075 grade if stated on the box and the rest is heat treated T6-6061.
Everything is then hard grey coated for durability.
The USA produced nylon plastic molded materials are nicely finished and look to be strong enough for current race standards.

This Hong Nor X1-CR comes with three normal composite open gear differentials and are of high quality design and are smaller then previous designs.
All drive outputs are O-ring sealed to be used with silicone oil.
For the differentials there are three bottles of silicone oil bottle of 1.000 Cps 3.000 Cps and 7.000 Cps supplied with this kit and are nicely mentioned in the set up sheet.
Quality and the fitting of the differentials is excellent!
The milled out chassis makes it possible to mount the differentials as low as can be done to achieve lower the center point of gravity.

Instead of normal nylon clutch shoes this kit comes with BLUE aluminum ones. It has become a standard in off-road.
The 3 pin scissor spring style clutch has regular 2.5 mm pins.
Standard with the car come 1.0 mm thick springs and are designed for these aluminum clutch shoes.

The very low CG fuel tank has a build-in fuel drain and separate fuel splash guard on the center differential.
A build-in splash guard would have make it easier to remove and clean the fuel system.
A aluminum fuel filter comes standard.

Double slotted metal front and rear brake disks are stopped by calipers with factory mounted brake lining.
They will provide enough stopping power even with servo's rated above 50 Nm of torque.

All drive axles are of the universal type and  made of spring steel so no CVD's to be found in this car!
Some drivers prefer these universal drive shafts over CVD's.

The center differential mounts are decomposable and are made of plastic and come standard.

Two CNC machined T6-7075 front and rear chassis braces are standard.

The CNC machined T6-7075 steering knuckles have the patented T-shape bolt nut construction that will make maintenance and durability easier and better for this C-hub style design front suspension.

The shocks are of very good quality but lack a bleeding hole in the shock absorber cap but is equipped with 3.5 mm shock shafts instead of older style 3 mm ones.
A bottle of  30 W silicone oil is provided to fill the shock absorbers to the set up sheet values that come with the car.
Included are molded 1.2 mm one hole pistons.
Blue colored springs are included in the kit.

A newly design and very low profile style body is already precut!
The body has a spray film cover at the outside and window masks standard.
The front mounting body post is nicely positioned behind the front shock absorber stay to preserve the strength of the body.

Universal heavy duty servo horns are provided as standard.
The lay down steering servo set-up has lowered the center point of gravity and the carbon radio tray looks nice.

Also all other carbon fiber parts like the center differential top plate and servo saver top plate are nicely machined.
But do not forget to put some cyano acrylic glue around the edges to prevent carbon splitters.

The left/right thread rods all around the car and the front steering balls make the car easy adjustable for a personal set up.

The yellow rims are sturdy and interchangeable when placed on other brand cars that use the 17 mm hexagon wheel adapter.
Aftermarket 17 mm hexagon rims should fit without problems.

An air filter is supplied in the kit and works fine as a Duale stage air filter
Even the air filter connector has the correct measurements to fit the filter snugly underneath the body without rubbing against the body inside.
No air filter oil is supplied with the kit.

The chassis is as said from T6-7075 hi-grade aluminum and is grey colored hard coated just like all other aluminum parts.
Milled out on certain places to get the weight down.
To reduce chassis flex round the starter hole a Z-brace is added to enhance the strength for the clutch bell area.
The hinge pin holders on this car are except for the front lower one made out of T6-7075 high grade aluminum.
Unfortunenatly E-clips are used as standard on this car!!!!
As option bolt/nuts hinge pins are available but we think that for this PRO version they should become a standard for the outer lower hinge pins.

The servo saver comes factory assembled to make your building easier and quicker.

With a reference weight of 2257 grams this car is not that heavy compared with the previous Hong Nor SPEED 9.5

 JWhat are the pro's? J

* Patented T-shape bolt/nut C-Hub design
* The plastic and metal parts, like steel and aluminum are of very good quality
* T6-7075 hard coated anodized aluminum used for chassis, shock towers and other aluminum parts
* Air filter with air filter connector
* Decomposable center differential mounts
* Aluminum clutch shoes
* 3.5 mm shock shafts
* Large radio box to accommodate normal size receivers
* Radio box foam inserts
* Carbon parts
* Fuel tank with built in fuel drain
* Pre cut body
* Z-brace

LWhat are the bad moves? L

* The packaging of the bags with the parts referring to the manual
* No air filter oil

Hong Nor has upgraded their Speed 9.5 buggy to this X1-CR.  The weight diet will do the performance good. The patented T-shape bolt/nut for the C-hub steering knuckle are an big improvement too. This is also a hardcore race car that is reasonably easy to build that will do nicely for newbie and experienced drivers. The car for only the hinge pins option is very complete and race ready. We have pointed out some issues with this production kit to Hong Nor president Mr. Wu, who has directly responded and some things will be changed or mentioned in correction sheets with the running production kits.

Comment by

  five stars is maximum score

BACK TO THE INDEX

This car is provided by

Taiwan