Test and Reviews

X2-CRT PRO

Intro

A few years back the first monster trucks were launched for bashing.
Large wheels and tires, large wheelbase and wheel stand.
Then someone found out that when you upgrade a buggy with wheel extenders and large rims and tires it became a cross over between a buggy and truck.
Soon the name truggy was born.
At the Hong Nor factory they saw in the crystal bowl that this so called truggy class would be growing fast in the future.
And they were right.
So the engineers at Hong Nor in cooperation with Jay Halsley purpose build the first Competition Racing Truggy.
Since then more manufacturers noticed the rising demand for these cars.
The X1 and X1X version ran at major events in the higher regions but more important was that many new bies were very positive about the car too.
After the release of the world wide successful Hong Nor X1 CRT truggy Hong Nor in cooperation with Jay Halsley from Jammin Products in the USA they have redesigned the X1 into a X2 version.
More about the previous X1(X) CRT can be found here.

The quality of the X1 CRT and X1X CRT was already on par with the major brands like Kyosho and Mugen.
Some even say the Hong Nor quality passes the Kyosho wear and tear currently.
Better is that when problems are found Hong Nor does not wait till next model but does running changes to the kits.
And then there was even a X1X CRT with many upgrades like the Super Bores 16 mm shocks for the same price.
Jay Halsey and the Hong Nor engineers have refined was what needed without sacrificing durability and quality.
But the wait is over and from 28 June 2008 the X2 CRT car will be available in the USA through Jammin products and Europe under the traditional Hong Nor label.

The X1 has proven to be a reliable and easy to maintain with low wear.
So on that aspect the X2 will have the same high quality Hong Nor has reached over the past years.
The car will also be available under names like OFNA, JAMARA and a few others.
But all these cars and products come from HONG NOR ENTERPRISE TAIWAN. 
Hong Nor started in 1990 with manufacturing model cars. 
Their webpage can be found here

In the USA some prototype X2 are already been used with great success in 2007 and beginning of 2008.
Some highlights of the cars material features and specialties of the X2-CRT PRO version we will review here.

* new chassis (longer wheelbase, and engine & components further forward
* chassis is much narrower and now has mud side guards
* new longer center universals & plastic braces for the new chassis
* lower gearing 10/43 in front and rear with helicoidally cut
* main gear will use a 48 tooth like the X1X-CR buggy
* low profile and smaller looking body
* super bore 16mm shocks
* new smaller fuel tank with incorporated fuel line clips
* new lighter plastic 2 piece center diff mount with offset brake cams
* new upper longer front arm link
* larger diameter style wheels and tires LRP style
* new shorter carbon radio tray

It use the same arms, bulk heads, shock towers, hubs, arm
mounts, wing mount, c-hubs as the current X1X-CRT .

It is a lot lighter, it feels more aggressive driving it, it drives more
like a buggy (you don't have too push it so hard to go fast) according to Chad Bradley Hong Nor/Jammin and other factory drivers
 

UPDATE 08-06-2008
We have the truggy in house and build it according to the sample manual that was send with  it.
As usual the building was a breeze even with the sample manual.

We will not provide you with all pictures of the building as we did with all previous review cars.
Why?
1] The most time consuming job of our previous reviews was the pictures and all detailed steps explained.
2] On our page stats we see only 1% of the pictures are enlarged for better view.
3] At the time we received the kit our usual digital SLR camera was broken so all pictures currently placed are made with a simple point and shoot camera.
We apologize for that.
99% of all steps from this X1 CRT PRO are the same as for the X2.
For those steps who differ and are newly designed parts we will make a notification/pictures with the parts mentioned.

Read the manual closely first a few times and then follow our steps to complete the car.

Extra tip before you start!

We recommend to use proper machines hexagon tools as shown in the picture below
The 2 mm head hexagon screws in the car are more sensitive to strip when not used with correct fitting tool when they are threaded first time into the plastic parts.
The kit supplied L-shape 2 mm tool will work but lifetime will be less on the screws head and your hands.

Enjoy this review

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This car is provided by

Taiwan