observation form an outsider
 

i have to start by saying i've been an xmod skeptic from day one.

i've had my xmod for a few weeks now and luckily i don't think i've had any serious problems with my rsx other than somes etup issues and it generally being slow (same setup as a friends and his is MUCH faster).
i can't help but point out the evergrowing number of threads/posts regarding returned xmods due to poor quality. in the begining, almost everyone was forecasting the doom of the mini-z with the release of the xmod. but after a few months of reading the forum hear and the few experiences i've had with them, i doubt the mini-z has anything to worry about. i think you'll find FAR fewer instances of problem mini-z's.

i still don't think they are really in the same cat. though so i guess i'm just voicing my opinion of all those that flamed the mini-z in comparison to the xmod's.

this only applies to those that swore the xmods where better...



i can say that for $50 you get a fun car to hop up, athough it is no easy task to do so. for the cheap cost, it's very affordable to do lots of custom work such as bad company's awsome stuff. the fact that they are also available at every rs is a huge plus too. makes it easier to return broken ones;)
seriously though, i've seen some really nice work here...some real creative stuff as well. keep up the work and i'll still be here in the background:cool:

my frustrating rsx
http://mini-zracer.com/albums/album1...0315.sized.jpg

You make a very valid point arch2b. Luckily, I never put down the Mini Z or said that the Xmods were better before actually owning a Mini Z, and I can say after owning one and being able to do a real comparison, that the Mini Z is superior. But, like you stated, the Mini Z will cost you 3 times as much, so it goes to the old saying, "you get what you pay for".

I believe that RS knows that they can't compete with the "hobby class" cars out there, and they build there products with that in mind, instead shooting for the casual RC crowd. It is pretty clear what their focus was with the Xmods, that being an affordable RC that is tunable for the whole street racer crowd.

In all actuality, after comparing the two, it is my opinion that the same thing RS was trying to achieve is what put them behind the Mini Z. Looking at the two chassis', the Mini Z is much simpler in design, and does what it has to do to work, nothing more. RS wouldn't have been able to design the Xmod that way and still be able to offer the ability to change and upgrade so many parts. It is in these parts areas that the Xmods have the most issues.

I will admit that I still like my Xmods for doing custom work, mainly due to the lower cost, but now that I have experienced the performance aspect of the Mini Z, I have found myself painting my Xmods and playing with my Mini Z's.

I hope I don't sound like I'm knocking the Xmods off, because what they were intended for, the do.....bring a decent tunable RC to just about anyone. Even before I bought a Mini Z, I never thought the Xmods would touch them, but I was satisfied with what I had........until I made the step up and spent a little more for a hobby class car.

I now find myself on two different sides of the fence. I have my Xmods that I spend my time visually customizing and displaying, and I have my Mini Z's that I find my self wanting to upgrade and tweek for performance and run. I think both are great and they both offer something a little different to the hobby.

I dunno. I have yet to see a fully prepped Mini-Z, so any experiences I have with them aren't really valid. I have a hard time believing that any RWD car could produce the kind of acceleration out of a corner that my 180 motored 4WD XMod can. I don't believe the 180 motor is an option for the Mini-Z, either, due to the way the drivetrain is laid out. I'd love to run a Mini-Z on a road course, with NML's best vs. my best. That would be interesting.

For reference, I have always thought the Mini-Z superior, even came close to buying one, but as my experiments have generated more and more success, I find myself more loyal to the XMods camp.

I certainly won't dispute the quality difference. XMods tend to require some TLC to perform as well as they can. Most people don't pay enough attention to detail to extract the full level of performance available.

i just drove my freinds overland and it is really fast out of the box, it is way better quality and the propo is really good. i think it is way better but it is more expensive, but ill still get one

neurokinetik,
I would like to try out one of your motors and talk to you about some other things, please shoot me an email. (You have the email disabled here.)

Thanks

as usual, bc, i agree with everything you've said as well.

i've always done my best to point out that xmods are, for thier price range, a very good deal. i know i like reading the forum here to see what everyone is doing because i am heavily into modding as well.

....don't get me started on overland's;) i oculd fill i book with everythign i've done with them. i can't say enough about them and the monster mini-z's.

neurokinetik,
i would give you the opprtunity to run my racers, overlands, monster and soon to be f1 anytime if you were in the area. i know i'd like to try a fast xmod as mine is definately not. maybe if bc gets one hooked up i can see it at the cup races at the end of jan.?!?

very well put

In my oppinon im just going to wait awhile to decide which is better, the Xmod or Mini-Z because the Xmods are still basically just starting out so i imagine there will be many improvements made to the complete Xmod in many ways. Just like the Zip-Zaps at first they werent all that great but after a year or so they came up to be very good with propo. throttle and steering. So maybe in the end the Xmods will come out on top (who know's!)

that's a BIG what if...

I think the name says it all Xmods. The mini-z is a great car for speed and racing because of its simpler chassis. The xmods appeals to those who like to tinker and have a low cost platform to operate on. (although many have modified mini-zs) I bought a mini-z almost three years ago when they first came out. I believe both cars have their pros and cons. The xmods is by no means a mini-z killer but there is a place in the market for it. Comparing the two is like comparing a surgical knife to a steak knife. depending on the circumstances, one may be better than the other.

BTman, that was very well put, i love metaphors, hahah

I think the XMODS have quite a bit over the Mini-Z's. This isn't quite an issue for a lot of us, but they're a little more toyish than the Mini-Z's, so they are often easier to deal with.

I've also found that XMODS are tough as nails. I was racing with a couple of my friends, so that was two XMODS and a Mini-Z. His Mini-Z nailed an XMOD head-on.. a small gear in the steering servo disappeared in the Mini-Z. Mighta been a fluke, but who knows.

Actually it isn't. RS has the money to throw at the xmod. If you take what they did with the zip zap line (pcb revisions to the se line) you'll see that they actually try to bring to the consumer what is called for. I'm still not so hot on the scale of these cars (xmod or miniz) I like to play with the cars I mod. So for me this xmod is plenty, I don't feel like I'm missing out on the "superiority" of a mini Z. I tell ya what though I want a freakin mini z madforce.:p

ok first off xmods are better, heres why...
1- cheaper
2- hands down look 1000X beter looking than a miniZ
3- beter potential

what i mean by #3 is ok yea a Z is faster than a xmod but look they've been out for like 3 years and have the product support of like 10+major companies, xmods however arent even a year old, and so far has only r.s. and slugbugg (makes some good center shafts)

ive attended two miniz races, at both, i happened to see what one of the top dogs was running, some after market motor, turbo and a buncha anodized parts.. no extra cells. with time our xmods will match and even surpass the best Z... although ive only started a costom paint job i have big plans, ive lerked the xmods forums since november and am still being impressed.. neurokenetic has discovered 180 motors and has made beasts out of them, some guy (sorry i dont remember your name) started a fet upgrade, B.C. got 6 cells under a supra, im currently pondering a 2spd transmission, as well as higher grip tires, for now my chassis mods are simply designed, but not fabricated, because i do not wish to fry or damage my xmod (being a gift and all), like i said xmods have the potential, im sure that by the summertime, the Zs will be wishing xmods were never forged!

as much as you can mod an xmod, it will likely never beat an mr-02 mini-z with nml's fuzion upgrade nor will it handle as well or have as percise control. your points don't do anything for your claim really as they are broad and can be just as easily claimed by any other rc excluding the cost.

1. yes they are cheaper. cheaper electronics cost less.

2. they can be modded to look better than a mini-z however the mini-z autoscales have much more detail and are made to be durable and light for racing. so you will not get the body kit stuff. bummer.

3. as far as potential, you could say the same thing for mini-z's. ask any one who's owned an mr-01 and bought an mr-02. look at the overland, f1, and monster line now released.

i actually prefer the smaller scale rc's. you don't have to have a mansion or go outside to enjoy them!

kyosho is doing the same thing...the new mr-02 mini-z has a far superior chassis than the mr-01 and even better electronics. although i do hope rs continues to improve the xmod rather than rest on it's laruels.

you will love the mad force:D
http://mini-zracer.com/albums/album1...0140.sized.jpg

the miniz with always have a more presice handling advantage. but the xmods can have allwheel drive making them able to take turns faster and accelerate quicker

what ever dude i dont like arguing, but what i say is truem look to zip zaps and bits... no one thought a zap was good, just like minis and xmods, at my lhs the bits were superior, but i got my zz to beat em, it took a fet bypass swap, 3 batts a 15$ motor and about 4 months of labor (i was a noob) but it happened and when i raced but they were all begging for mercy.. i will not give up at trying to defeat a miniZ until i have no xmod to race with.. like the great goku said "were theirs a will theirs a way"

Yeah, I'm sure I will. Now if I can only find it for less than $200. I still haven't gotten a reply from the minizracer shop.:(

i'm not trying to argue either:D the idea was you claims could be just as easily made for the mini-z as well...

i'm sure there are plent of xmoders that are trying to take the xmod to the highest level...it's been going on with mini-z for years now and i'm sure it will with xmods as well.

i don't know of anyplace selling monsters for $200! if you pay that much you haven't shopped around. i'd say common pricing is about $160-180 not including shipping

Ok first off...the xmods will never be what the mini-zs are...absolutley never!! Having just bought my newest overland and played with my friends MR-02 Enzo, the xmods look like an absolute joke compared. My RSX is fast...really fast, but no match for my friends MR-02!! If you were to put, lets say, $200 ito an xmod and an MR-02...i would most definetly laugh at the results. And dont even get me started on comparing an xmod to a mini-z F1:D Oh yea and one more thing, take a look at all of the posts in this forum. probably 75% of them are comments or questiones dealing with how someones xmod exploded or fried or broke in some way....yea sounds to me like more potential:rolleyes: more potential to break. I do like my xmod a lot but to try and compar them to mini-zs is like comparing a Nissan 350Z to a Ferrari. The 350Z is still cool and fast, but not as fast or cool as the Ferrari

:D no flaming war here please :D

sorry...just throwing in my 2 cents

mt 2cents
 

i have a few xmods and a mr-02 enzo and at first run i about gave up on my xmod but i went on now my xmod running a 180 motor carbon fider chassie and some other little mods beats my enzo 'on a road course' no lie i have about 300-350 in my enzo and about 124-175 in my xmod now as for drag my enzo wins but not by a hole lot my xmod handles the speed alittle better than my enzo also now that ive modded the steering on my xmod it has close to the turning radius as my enzo all in all both are really good and the new chassie helps so now i have to modd my enzo to beat my xmod and so on so on back and forth till i can go no more thats my 2cents

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i'd like to see 300-350 in an enzo and your cf chassis xmod...

ok ill admit ive so far spent about 160 on my xmod and all the r.s hop ups and a 180 motor with 12T pinion (not yet installed) ill prolly have 200 put in by the end of the project, and it would be close to if not beter than a top notch miniz, but if you ask the Z has prolly got 300+ in mods, so i see it this way, xmods arent as fast but can and will eventually be because their speed is limited to the engineuity of its modders, but the miniZ's potential is limited to the owners pocket size.

btw, id rather have that 350Z listed above, than that ferrari, and i guantee if you bought an enzo for like 320,000 or bought a Z 35,000 and spent 285,000 on it the Z would whoop the enzo just my $.02

xxspeednplayaxx, i totally agree with the comment you made in your last post about the putting the $200,000 into the 350Z. What i was referring to was stock. a stock enzo will rape a stock 350Z

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xxspeednplayaxx have you played with a miniz? one that is hopped up. I know that a you can get an xmod very fast. (no I mean crazy FAST) I have seen NML's 8.4v XV motored xmod but even with 4wd is does not handle the same as a miniz mr02 with a NML Fusion. you would have to change the electronics to compete. That's the way I see it and people that have miniz's might probably understand what I'm saying, but I'm not bashing xmods. I like my xmod and I like the fact that it has gotten so many people into rc because of it's pricepoint.

Well, I finally got the chance to drive a Mini-Z this week (stock MR-01 type) and now understand what you guys are talking about. My opinion still differs in some areas.

First off, the electronics, particularly the steering, is far more precise on the Mini-Z. I was having little trouble staying off of the walls on the track, where the XMods all tend to get pretty beat up. Turning radius is so much better. Overall, much easier to drive, but I was missing the brake function.

Proper tires were essential on the Mini-Z with RWD. The owner was using soft treaded XMods tires on the rear, and he cut grooves in the stock Mini-Z front tires. The car handled very well with this setup. Despite being an MR-01, it seemed less prone to roll over in the corners as well.

I tested the top speed of the Mini-Z on the Tamiya speed checker, and the car would hit 19kph, vs. 17kph of an XMod with a stage 2 drift motor or 21kph with a stage 2 drag motor.

The only issue I have with the Mini-Z is durability of the chassis, particularly the H Plate, which in fact broke on this one later on in the evening (No, I wasn't driving it at the time :p ) The Overland that runs there has broken a couple of times too. The XMods, OTOH, seem to only break axle cups for the most part. It doesn't seem like the body protects the chassis as well on the Mini-Z as it does on the XMods. Not to mention it seems to become detached easier.

Anyway, after that driving experience, you might see me go with the aftermarket electronics idea, or else I'll end up picking up an MR-02.

I don't have any experience with the MR-01, I haven't gotten one yet, but the MR-02 does have a brake fuction.

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After reading on comparing the mini-z and xmods, I would not say that one is better than the other. I mean, they both have their strong points. So we should leave it at that. Well after driving both, I still love both. Arch2b made me start adding fog lights and start tinkering with my xmod. I love the speed of the mini-z.
Let's stop comparing and just say I love my Xmod and Mini-Z...for what they can do....

i would agree with that however it seems everytime you come back to a thread after awhile another newbie is posting hate mail about one or the other... most of the time i would venture to guess they only have one or the other

You hit the spot Arch2b
 

can't agree with you more than that.... Well put.

You do make a good point arch2b. What I find funny, is certain members bashed the Mini Z not too long ago swearing the Xmods was the ultimate, then the next thing you know they get a Mini Z, and now they are bashing the Xmod. That just tells you they didn't have a clue what they were talking about and were basing their "opinion" on pure speculation.