On a rainy Labour Day, I figured it was a great time to finally build the car. I had purchased it 2 weeks ago on the Friday it was released, and paid a couple extra dollars to have it express shipped to Canada....where it sat on the shelf for 2 weeks.....
So as mentioned before, I was going to swap the graphite parts with composites in my inventory. I also had extra SSK DCJ's, so that I could save the ones in the kit for spare. While on the composite trip, I thought I would use the Xi Sport composite spool and bolt the 40T Advance gear to it. But during the build, I started to appreciate the metal spool, and so it stayed. I swapped the 64p spur for my 48P 66T, and decided to use the Power HD servo that I had shortened. I had spare steel turnbuckles from another Xi Sport, but opted to stick with the titanium ones in the kit, and have not regretted it one bit.
I was curious as to whether or not the chassis plates could be swapped onto my Xi Sport, so I did side-by-side comparisons. Sadly, the Advanced holes did not line up - they appeared slightly longer. The main chassis plate for the Advance is slimmer than the Xi too. I was originally going to file/CA the edges, but decided not to because I was not familiar with how it may affect the chassis (which seemed to flex easily and smoothly).
The smooth torsion of the chassis was likely a result of several factors - this being one of them. The floating pulley was a radical departure from what I experienced on the Zero and Xi Sport. Part of the reason why I opted to go with the 48P 66T is because the FDR was identical was 2.0 and allowed me to use the range of pinions I currently have. Also, I hate the way white spur gears look. The toe blocks could be interchanged with the ones for the Xi/Ultimate. But the point of this car for me was to keep racing with my inventory of spares, while getting away from the anodized pink. Pivot balls were dipped Tamiya AW grease.
The "HPI-style" camber adjustment is a nice change. Having run aluminum bulkheads on the previous models, this was one of the most inconvenient parts of the car to go over, as it required the shock tower sub-assembly to be removed. With all screws exposed, this would make that important "once over" much easier to accomplish. Too bad the kit came with pink washers. I'll have to remove these in the very near future and replace with metallic or black ones. The metal droop plates were also something I had not seem in the Zero or Xi Sport. Gone are the days of having a chassis hacked up due to droop adjustments.
The pink aluminum stand-offs are gone, and these slick "blade-type" stand-offs are in their place. They remind me of the old blade-type swaybars. As a result, I mounted this one in the front as standing, as opposed to layed down. Whether or not it will make a difference, is yet to be seen. But it sure does look cool. Again, the pink washers in this kit will be replaced by me, and I recommend you to do the same. 3Racing's intention was to make a car with spacers that are easy to see, in order to make adjustments easier. Personally, I think 3Racing just had a crap load of pink washers they needed to clear out. I'm thinking as to whether or not I have enough silver spacers to eliminate this issue for me.
Next up is the Factory Big Bore Shocks. This was a bit of a disappointment to me. The shocks are not any "smoother", as increasing the gauge of the shock is not directly related to making it smoother. If I needed a "smoother" shock in the past, I would simply change the oil. Furthermore, my old springs are not going to fit, as the picture shows a considerable difference in size.
All in all, the car went together smoothly. After completion, I was left with a bitter sweet taste in my mouth though. First, the car looks like a winner. There looks to be a lot of "modern concepts" in this car, such as the floating pulley, floating servo mount, HPI Pro 5 - style camber links, and lighter battery mounting system than previous models. I also liked the ball bearing swaybar system - which includes swaybars. I am not satisfied in the fact that minor items, such as spacers, are what prevents this car from being a complete departure from the anodized pink roots. I am also still a bit peeved that the manual is a bundle of Xerox copied papers.
With a sticker price of approximately $230, it is hard to knock this kit. Anyone who has had a Zero S or Xi Sport chassis, can easily transition a majority of their inventory to this car. Anyone getting into onroad racing could easily buy a pair of these kits for the same amount they would have spent for one kit from one of the other guys. I'm looking forward to seeing how this performs on the new black carpet.