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XK 1/28 Scale 4WD Drift Car – RTR SKU: WLT-K969-001

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  • XK 1/28 Scale 4WD Drift Car – RTR SKU: WLT-K969-001

    Hello guys,

    Just a veview on this new little XK drift car we are now selling.

    The shipping box arrived without any noticeable damage. The product box, had no noticeable damage outside as well. but when I opened it, the car fell out unsecured. There was a dent in the upper inner packing and this looked as if it busted the zip ties holding the car down, see photos. Next, I noticed the car body seemed to be scratched up badly from being tossed around in the box. I then realized it actually has a clear protective film on it. Once removed the finish was glossy and quite nice.

    I found the wheel nut wrench to be missing from the kit. The instructions could not be better! For each component, there is an exploded view with all the parts listed with both numbers and photos!

    The Battery is installed in the car already and does not need to be removed to charge it. The USB charger did a good, job and had it fully charged in less than 25 min. The light blinks, then turns solid red when charging, shuts off when done.

    To turn the car on there is a small button on the side of the receiver/ESC you hold in for 2 seconds, same to turn it off. I have left the battery plugged in overnight, and noticed it did not drain it.

    The chassis is very sturdy by design. A single flat metal piece is used as the base for all the components. The 4-wheel independent suspension has good smooth travel, no binding was noticed. The plastic parts of the car do have a lot of rough edges. I assume they are pulled from the mold and then just installed. This did cause a problem I will mention later.

    The front and rear differentials are not open. There are no spider gears used. They are both solid. This is fine for drifting but would not work well for a track car.

    Looks like metal bearings have been used. This is an upgrade on other small cars of this class and price range.

    A regular servo is used for the steering, others I have seen, use a built-in servo, that requires taking the car apart to fix, should it break down. Nice simple touch.

    The wheels have no staggered offset like the Kyosho Mini-Z's. Where a narrow tire is up front and a wider one in the back. This car has the same tire and rim combination all the way around. To me, it takes away from what could be a big improvement in appearance. It would look sportier with offsets. With that mentioned, I found out both the XK, and the Mini-Z's use the same style hub mounting design. The wheels and tires are interchangeable. Only difference is XK's wheel diameter is 22mm compared to Mini-Z's 20mm.

    The radio has a nice feel to it. Good grip and balance, comfortable in the hand. The large soft foam padded wheel is not only nice to the touch but is a larger circumference then other similar pistol grip radios. I like the way it actually gears down the steering giving better control off center. I want one for my Flysky NB4 now! Also, it includes basic trim settings for throttle and steering.

    Drifting this car has proven to be fun! But there were some problems along the way. First issue was the car immediately got stuck on the carpet and would not move, wheels just spun. This was from the afore mentioned, sharp plastic edges on the lower suspension swing arms. See photos. This caused the car to get hung up on the carpet fibers. I filed them down only to notice the body was unevenly cut and was catching on the carpet. I then noticed the openings for the wheels were all different, in size and shape. The body must be hand cut from the mold? I took some time to even them out and level the bottom edge of the body, all the way around. See photos.

    Once I got to drifting the car proved to be fun and it can drift with pretty good control over it. The body can rattle at times, because it is only attached with pins and clips, not snapped into place rigidly like the Mini-Z. During break in the motor does seem to get hot, even to the touch. Runs for about 20 min and charges up in almost the same amount of time.

    So, how does it compare to the bar setting, Kyosho Mini-Z's??? There is no comparison! This is, you get what you pay for. The Mini-Z offers way more, in the way of attention to build details, scale appearance, and options! No lights or a gyro is offered as an option. I will do a short video on this subject.

    With that said, this is a sturdy little drift car that will match the Mini-Z, in durability. For example, stock it comes with metal drive shafts compared to Mini-Z's plastic ones. Metal is an upgrade for them. The chassis is stiff and the drivetrain is very securely mounted. No excessive vibration or noises seem to be present. The Lexan body will not be as susceptible to damage as the scale hard plastic Mini-Z ones.

    Last but not least to make mention of. I do not recommend this car for track running. With no open diff's, it is very hard to control once sticky race tires are used. The Lexan body is not easily damaged but flexes a lot. Unfortunately, this allows the front suspension to take an impact, as to where the hard body on the Mini-Z offers more protection from this happening. The result was a busted front differential output collar on the XK drift car.

    For $69 you cannot go wrong with this product. I give it 4 stars, only because of the non-scale appearance, the lack of options available, outside of rims and tires, missing wheel nut wrench, rought plasic parts and the body not shaped or finished very well.

    Thanks for reading!

    Derek
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