Test and Reviews

X2-CRT PRO

This is the building process of a Hong Nor X2-CRT  PRO with all pro's and con's found.

Performance

How to read performance results

The first time we practice with the car we discovered quickly that the X2 CRT PRO although it looks similar to the X1X PRO gives different driving results.
More steer is the major thing this car has out of the box compared to the X1X CRT PRO.

On the Astroturf track we normally practice, the first laps were dreadful.
We begged to have the older X1X!!

Why? At every corner we were used to coast into the corner with understeer.
Bang, again one corner taken to tight.
I had to get used to it for several laps to get used to the off power corner ability this car now has build in.
But finally we made it! :-)Yippy then the fun began.

Beside the corner speed the other positive change is the possibility to rescue the car in situations the X1X would let us down.
Just let off the throttle and the car retains its pad and in control.

The new HN LPR X tyres provide enough grip without grip rolls even on dry high grip Astroturf tracks.
After the first few tanks of practice we were confident the car was OK for the first race.

TRUGGY CUP RACE

The first race was also on astroturf but no big jumps. It was more an race track.
But we have to race there for the championship so we took it as it was.
Bad weather the day before made the track slippery.
On sunday the first laps were done with the HN LPR X tyres.

But we suffered grip problem at the front and the rear.
So we switched to the available GRP GRIP tyres.
Car was more in control but I had to raise the rear and lower the front ride height to get controllable steer.
We also changed from 13 to 14 teeth to get the GO 5 port with 2062 to best gearing on the long stretch.
This also made the wheelspin on the track a little less.

Qualifying was OK.

We changed from 2.5 to 3.5 tor out in the rear.
This gave a little more grip in the rear.
The half final was no problem to reach and we went on to the A final
So we prepared for the final and borrowed a set of GRP CUBICS to get a little more overall grip.

So the start of the final went Ok en I could manage in two laps to go from 7 to 2nd place.
The number one guy was to quick on the wet track and I slipped to 3rd and then suddenly my car coasted of the track.

No steer and throttle!
My pitguy ran to the car and lifted it and suddenly the the control was there again. ( no I do not have a swtich).
With one lap down I tried to gain some placed to go from 8th to 3rd spot.
The in two laps the car rolled and hooked into the carpet twice and the marshall was not quick enough so the engine stalled.

With 2 laps down I could not manage to any better and a 6th place finish was the best I could get.
But the best thing was that the car was up to speed with the fastest guys.

I run almost stock kit car with stock shock oil and diff oils. Only 3.5 rear toe out was changed.

Performance by Jacco Koch

Hong Nor provided TWF8 new X2 truggy's building was no problem. (see Paco's review)

When I have time I like to participate a truggy.nl race also last time I joined one.
It was great to drive this new X2 which has more steering than the old X1X.
I had practiced at our home circuit and the performance was very good.
However the same set-up was not so good for the dry/wet circuit in Groningen.
My set-up was made at a dry sunny circuit, but a view drops of rain made the race circuit feel like driving on ice.

Getting in the final was no problem although grip was very hard to find as the circuit was a little wet but during the final it rained three times a view minutes.
Every time I managed the see the number 2 from behind it started to rain and all grip was gone
This was coursed by the heavy diff oil I used 15000 front and 20000 mid,
Normally when I have a buggy race I change diffs as I have more diffs already filled with different types of oil.
But the new X2 truggy has different gearing so this was no option. This race is just for fun so no changes during this day.
I ended at 3rd place which was a good result for the first race with the new X2.
I used the thorsen differential in the center!

Nuclea Buggy Racing Open race

On the new fully Astroturf track (yes Astroturf is very popular in Benelux) we took the X2 with us.
This track has some USA style BIG JUMPS we are not use to run on.

Still equipped with the Go 5 port with 2062 pipe and 14 teeth clutch bell.
We put the HN LPR X tyres on again and made the first practice laps and found out after some jumps one completely wrong landed, the rear plastic chassis brace broke in two parts.

Ohps no spare parts. What now? We took the X1x we still have as back up in case........ and took the rear brace off.
Had to drill an extra hole as the X2 is much longer.
We managed to get it working but missed both qualifications.
Without any more practice laps we ran the 1/2 final and won it.
During this 1/2 final I could get used to the car and tried to make no mistakes what gave me the win.
The large jumps I was afraid to take as if you were off line you could wreck the car in the surrounding fences.

With  the place in the final we made a good start and stayed at a reasonable 2 second place behind an other X2.
The large USA style jumps I tried to take at once and I succeeded better each lap.
Then I misjudged them and hooked the fence and engine stalled.
This cost me 2 laps and a second time it happened again.
With the speed I had I could recapture the 2nd place again but the leader was to far away to catch up.

I was very happy with the constant performance of the car and the high speed USA style jumps the car was under control nicely.
Corner speed was OK and the X1x cars on the track could be passed on the inside line!!!!

Beside the broken rear plastic chassis brace the car was performing well.

Hong Nor knows the problem with the strength of the rear plastic chassis brace and the material is changed.
But for those who like to hop up their car, Hong Nor now provides as option aluminum 70705 T6 chassis braces.

During the 2008 season after receiving the X2 we ran the car at several tracks and races.
We got what we were promised!
The car has more steer definitely.
Down side is, it is more sensitive for set up changes and the bandwidth to use it at every track without changing setup is smaller.
On the other side when you put some more effort in finding the correct set up the car can outperform the previous X1X CRT PRO.
Start with the setup from the manual and first see what this does for you and the progress to change the set up to your liking.
For all races done the only thing wearing is the center drive shafts/universals. All other parts have exceptional good longtivity.
We broke one lightweight rear brace in a heavy and hard upside down rear side crash. The light weight chassis was bend at the rear 12 degrees!
Yes same as the front kick up. Sorry we do not have pictures of that.
With some tools we managed to readjust the chassis form to its original position. Due to the memory effect in the 7075 material it snapped back in correct position at the last part.
After mounting a new light weight 7075 rear brace we found the car was still running straight!
The helicoidally pinion and crown gear in the front and rear are holding up fine.
The off set brake cams are working fine too without keeping sticking.

We will run the car for two other races and then check for the wear and tear.

Super Big Bores springs from Hong Nor index values

 
Front springs Super Bore 16 mm
 

Brand	partnumber	color	K value N/mm	status	testdate	comment
Hong Nor	#389A	Yellow	0,6433	X1X-CR	1-3-2008	Super Bore 16 mm
Hong Nor	#389B	White	0,7199	X1X-CR	1-3-2008	Super Bore 16 mm
Hong Nor	#389C	Silver	0,7584	X1X-CR	1-3-2008	Super Bore 16 mm
Hong Nor	#390A	Blue	0,8139	X1X-CRT	8-1-2008	Super Bore 16 mm
Hong Nor	#390B	Gray	0,8482	X2-CRT PRO	8-1-2008	Super Bore 16 mm

 
Rear springs Super Bore 16 mm
 

Brand	partnumber	color	K value N/mm	status	testdate	comment
Hong Nor	#389A	Yellow	0,5336	X1X-CR	1-3-2008	Super Bore 16 mm
Hong Nor	#389B	White	0,5883	X1X-CR	1-3-2008	Super Bore 16 mm
Hong Nor	#389C	Silver	0,6017	X1X-CR	1-3-2008	Super Bore 16 mm
Hong Nor	#390B	Gray	0,6095	X2-CRT PRO	8-1-2008	Super Bore 16 mm
Hong Nor	#390A	Blue	0,667	X1X-CRT	8-1-2008	Super Bore 16 mm

 
Blue Front and Rear springs are mend for the X1X truck
Grey Front and Rear springs will be used for the  X2 Truck as standard.
 
The weight distribution (front to rear) is different between the X1X 
and  X2 Truck, that's why colour scheme is a little weird and we want to 
keep the same colour springs on the front and rear that work the best 
for each truck. Chad Bradley
 
RESUME AFTER 8 RACES

After using the X2 CRT for a full race season now (8 competitions in total) we finalized the look at the wear and tear of the car.

But first to say we ran the car full stock set up with original oil settings for shocks and differentials from the kit for 7 races on purpose.
We ran 4 different tracks where 3 had full artificial grass surface.
The factory set up is a 80% correct set up in my personal opinion to start from.
In some races I could have changed the whole set up, but I did not.
Yes, I lacked compared to the competitors in some races, but in others the final result was close to them going fast and steady overall.

Overall the behavior of the car compared to the X1X in standard set up is more steer and more aggressive reaction. Faster acceleration even with a decent .21 engine.
Only issue of the car we found not OK is the rear chassis brace.
The first production plastic brace did not survived as did not two optional HN T6-7075 factory arched aluminum rear braces (XTS-14). We noticed other drivers having same problem.
The front braces in both material versions are not suffering a high load so stay in good shape even the plastic version.
HN told they have addressed both problems and running changes on the parts are taken care of.

On less grip track we advise you to use the plastic chassis braces and not to full tighten the top connecting screws.
This set up create extra side way flex which will create grip. Only downside the side to side reaction is a little slower.

During the last three races I changed to the light weight chassis (HN XTS-21) and drive shafts (XTS-18 and XTS-19).
I could not feel any difference in performance, but that could be me.

To be able to use other brand non offset rims without touching and damaging the outer steering arms I changed the outer steering arms to “hockey stick” style shape of the Kyosho STRR

. If you do this you also have to change the ball to a 6.8 mm version from Kyosho

We have asked HN to change to the hockey stick style type too but we have to wait and see if they do so.
This makes tyre and rims choice wider so people more quickly will change to this car when they have other brands rime/tyres already.

The new style LPR X-type tyres work perfect on artificial grass when the track is dry.
We are uncertain about the compound but it would be nice to see this tyre in a softer compound for next season to make it more usable on other surface with less grip.

The new stylish X2 CRT body survived many crashes but has some cracks at certain spots near the window.
We have seen this happen with the X1 version too but also other brands are suffering same problem.
We will modify the car for that for the next X2 body and 2009 race season with some polyethylene foam blocks to support the front part more to prevent those cracks.

I only use the original HN body clips, but for some reason the tracks are eating them!
With truggy bodies the front body post are at the top surface of the shock absorber stay where as with buggy bodies where the front shock absorber stay protects the body.
Pictures will follow soon.
At one race I lost 15 body clips :-(
So I started to look into some design change of these clips to prevent the unwanted disengagements from the body post.
More about that design change soon.

As important as set up is the wear of the car parts itself.
During all races we did not changed any part due to wear.
No parts broke except mentioned rear chassis braces.
We checked the shocks first and 3 out a 4 where working as being just filled after 8 races.
Oil looked transparent as silicone oil should look.
One shock we felt some air bubbles and after opening it we saw an reduced amount of oil.
So after adding a little oil of correct viscosity it worked fine again.
3 shock boots were teared and need to be replaced.

Clutch bell has some wear marks, but is in reasonable good shape.
For security sake we change clutch bell bearings prior to each race.
Also for the main gear no major wear.
Only a slight wear on the pins of the centre drive shafts, but nothing to be alarmed for.
Plastic all around the car is in good condition with no unacceptable play what so ever.

Where at some other brand cars the small drive train pinion of 10 teeth is prone to wear out quickly the HN version with the 45 crown gear are still in perfect shape. They were shimmed as described in the manual left alone for all the races.

HN and all it test drivers worldwide have done an excellent job to transform the X1X into this X2 CRT. In general the car does not need any hop up other then a good straight rear chassis brace if you run USA style hi jumps. In normal low height jumps with good landing ramps the kit plastic versions are sufficient to be used.
These plastic versions also allow more side flex in the car that boost grip for certain conditions where track grip is not at its best.

What we would like to see changed on this car?

1] Hockey stick style outer steering rods.

2] Other routing of the servo wires for easier access and change (see review)

3] Different design body clips ;-)

If you like to use other set-ups then the factory set-up please take a look at the Jammin site where the USA factory drivers have posted some, to be found here http://www.jamminproducts.com/setups.htm

HN and Jammin now also offer an X2 RTR version with an updated FORCE.28 powerplant.
http://www.jamminproducts.com/x1crtrtr.htm
With two colorful body designs red/white and blue/white the new X2 range is ready.

As we write this the log awaited X2 Buggy version is shipped too in full race kit and conversion kit version.
http://www.jamminproducts.com/x1cr.htm

The Hong Nor truggies X1X and X2 are popular in Holland and getting more stronger in appearance in surrounding countries.
They can compete with any other brand.
We missed 2 races and scored no points there but finished 6 th overall this year in the TRUGGY.NL series with some very good and strong opponents.

As I did with the X1X I modified the brake system.
Now the brakes do not use silicone tube but springs and both rods are placed aka Thunder Tiger at the top for easy acces.
I only have bend the front brake cam lever upwards after turning the eye 180 degrees upwards.
A picture of the brake system from the Thunder Tiger EB4/S3 can be used.

We also modified the front of the car by adding a piece of polyetyhleen foam to prevent the front of the body to be pressed inwards when the car is landing on its roof. Normally the front fenders will crack and tear due to the pressure.
Yes I know, it looks bulky but weighs only 4 grams!! It will not disturbe the balance of your car. :-)
It is fixed with two simple zip ties. So if you need to remove it is easy to do and to fix it again.

For the 2009 season we will see what we can do if we really adapt the car set up to the track.

Paco Raap

2009

Yes we are far into 2009 and sorry we did not report earlier.
We are busy with an other project that consume so much time.

We can tell you good things about the durability of the car.
After 5 race in the Dutch Truggy.nl races we are on position 5.
With only one race we had engine problems which were caused by a defective fuel filter the car itself performed without a hick up.

No we are not honest. :-)
We had one pinion/ring gear failing at the first race at the start of 2009.
But that was already one race season old remember.
So no major complains about it.

Shocks still work fine but we for security sake we refurbished the O-rings.

The center drive shafts are wearing faster then we like and we can only find this as a weak point of the car.
So we replaced them after 5 races anyway.

Suspension arms are still those from last year except the left rear.
Yes broken in a heavy crash but not a problem of the car I think as it hooked on a metal pole mid air!

So we still confirm that the car is a sturdy as it was new and still rungs great.

Reacts good to changes in set up.

Ok we are at the end of the 2009 race season.

We had our sheer of ups and downs during the races.
In general the ups were due to the cars ability to accept a lot of punishment with my driving style.
The downs were for simple but user error reasons.
Ending 6 th overall in the Dutch www.truggy.nl cup we were satisfied with the excuse we could have been higher if...........

Over the whole race season we replaced:
2 x front T king ping bolts as the were partly broken.

1 x left rear lower suspension arm (crash in a fence at Mol). Sorry no picture :-)
1 x center drive shafts front and rear.
1 x center differential drive outputs.
1 x left front upper turnbuckle and suspension arm (crash in a fence at Mol).
1 x left front CNC steering block (bolt snapped from the steering rod).

So after all we are happy with what some call the TANK under the truggy cars.
But you have to finish first to finish and this car can do it with ease.

We like to thanks Hong Nor Taiwan for supplying the excellent product and the support.
Hoping we can race in 2010 with some better skills and ending up higher in the ranks.

We are preparing, but are you?

We keep you informed.

Paco

Performance 2011 with new kid on the block Alex Kozijn

After a long trip we finally arrived in the village Ee in Friesland.
When i saw the track I immediately looked forward into the racingday.
The qualifications started,I didn´t have to change anything on my car, the setup was just perfect.
I did the first qualifying easy to learn the track, I finished with 9 laps.
I started pushing the car in the second qualfication, I didn´t made much foulds andI finished with 10 laps. So I did in the thirth qualification. The qualifications were over and I heard thatI qualified myself for the 1/2th final immediately, so I did a good job at the qualifications which felt very good.
After a long time the semi final started, in the first corner I got hit by another car, so I had to start from the latest position. But after a couple of laps I gained first, unfortunately my wheel bearing failed and I could not drive any further. With the help of Paco Raap we managed to made the car and set it back on the track, but the gap with the other drivers was to big. With this result I still managed to qualify myself for the Students Final, which I started at 6th. Again after the first corner I got stuck with the other cars who crashed, and again I was last. I had to fight myself back to place 1, which I did after 5 or 6 laps. The car was handling perfect and the HN X2 crt was faster then the other people. I was driving first the whole time, untill a straggler hitted me four times in the last two laps, I finished second with a gap from 1.5 seconds on the predecessor. But thats a part of the racing game.

I had a fantastic day, I finished second in the Students Final & I was the second fasted student allround. The car was easy to drive and the setup was perfect. I am looking forward into the next race in Purmerend.

Alex Kozijn

Round 4 Berlicum Frieslan, North of the Netherlands

This race was different then the others. We were driving in a riding school, because the weather outside was horrible.
Everyone was excited and looked forward to the slippery track.

When the first qualification started I noticed that I did not want do change anything on the car, it was just perfect. The only thing we did were thicker rear springs. I liked the track and in the first qualification I was in the top 10 of the average lap times.

At the second en third qualifications I was driving faster and faster without making big foulds, so I immediately placed myself for the semifinals.

The semifinals went well, it was a lot of fun too race very close to each other. Who ever makes the fewest mistakes should won, that's how close the top 5 was racing against each other. I placed myself in 5th position, so I qualified for the Master Finals!

In the masterfinals I had to start at the 10th place, but after driving a few laps, my car where on place 3! The number 4 car was very close by. So we had to fight 25 minutes for the 3rd place. At the end he managed to overhaul my position and I finished fourth.

All by all it was a fantastic day at the track, and the Hong Nor X2 CRT worked all day very well! I'm looking forward to the next race at the same conditions.

Alex Kozijn

New TWF8 team driver for the Hong Nor X2crt.

TWF8 announced that Youngster Colin Meijer will drive the Hong Nor X2crt team car for the 2012 Truggycup series.
Dutch boy Colin is born on the 30the of april 2003 and likes, besides Truggy racing, soccer and kickboxing.
Dad Andre Meijer, former Stockcar champ from the 70-80ties and todays Serpent buggy driver, wil be his mechanic.
Mommy Inge will be resposible for the catering!
The Hong Nor factory, CRD decals and TechWorkx setup equipment will give there support as well.

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This car is provided by

Taiwan

The engine is provided by

Germany

The decals are provided by

The Netherlands

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