Losi XX4

Got this from a friend who doesn't use it anymore. It's a Losi XX4 (I think) 4WD buggy with a 'warlock racing motor'.

I had to put the electronics back together to make the car run and add some radio gear. I soldered a set of powerpole connectors from the ESC to motor, and used the existing Deans battery connector. I did have to make a tamiya->Deans adapter in order to charge the battery.

The ESC is unlike anything I've ever seen. Tekin 410K. It has a full numeric keypad, used to program it. It plays sounds thru the motor, can can be turned off via the transmitter. No external heatsink, the metal case is the heatsink. If I was into racing, I could program it to give me full power for the first minute of the race, then reduce power to keep some battery reserve and then crank it back to full power near the end of a race.

This car left me speechless twice so far.

1-I stared blankly at the wheel bolts when my magic Tamiya Hex Wrench didn' fit. How could this be? I tried a few more times, but no. It doesn't fit. Wow.

2-I put it together, charged battery, programmed ESC and brought it outside. Hit the trigger. The car was gone. Where'd it go? Way down the street. It seems to accellerate from a standstill to full speed almost instantly. Very little wheelspin, just gone. A moment later, the transmitter was gone. My 4-year old grabbed it. He loves this car.

Battery, ESC, motor, plugs and wires all cool after run.

I still need to pull it apart and re-lube the gears and clean it up. It's a keeper.

Update Dec 2002 We broke it. My little boy took a jump (which I have warned him repeatedly about NOT doing unless he is driving his monster truck). The car landed badly and snapped the rear graphite shock tower. Luckily a local store had a replacement. Their last one.

Update July 14, 2003 - I took this racing, however, the motor died after the first heat. Brushes wore away to nothing. While trying to remove the motor, I disassembled more than I needed to. The original owner seesm to belong to the 'no oil' school of RC. And it works. There is no sign of wear on the metal pinion or plastic spur gear. I also think this pinion gear must be some high-end gear. It really looks new. Very thick and strong looking. I can't wait to get the motor back..

Update Aug 18 2003. Well I got the motor back. I put the car together and tried it out during the big blackout which hit New York last week. Luckily, my charger can run off a car battery.

It's fast. Really fast. Too fast acutally.
I hit a small jump at the end of my driveway. More like a gentle rise up to street level I drive all of my cars off this, even the F1 has no problem with it. The Losi hit it so fast that it flipped forward and broke another rear shock tower. Ow.

Luckily, a not so LHS had a spare. I re-assembled and got ready to race for Sunday. On Sunday, I was practicing a bit before the race. I was trying to hit the double at the local track. I've only seen it done once or twice. My car is the only 4WD non-MAXX at the track, so I'm probably best equipped to hit that double. The Losi hit it and could easily clear it. I even overshot it a few times. Then I hit the first jump off angle. The car cleared the second jump, but smashed it's front wheel into a fuel tank off-track and snapped the front bulkhead and a small part of the chassis. I tried to CA it in time for the race, but the glue failed. New bulkhead on order. I can work around the break in the chassis as a replacement graphite chassis would set me back out $70US.

I also added a Hornet rear wing connected using Tyrrell 019 F-1 wing mouting parts. It looks more like a real buggy now. I found a good source for tires and plan to buy a few sets. This is my racer until the my driving skill improve to the point that 4WD is an unfair advantage over the 2WD guys at the track. Or if I keep breaking it.

I have the ESC set to slowest acceleration, and plan to race with the transmittler throttle limiter set to 8 (of 10), just to keep it under control.

Update May 31 2004 - Last summer was all about motor and battery problems. Hopefully I have them all solved. Right now, the car has a SPeed Gems 11T. It flies. Unbelievable.

Update April 21 2005 - Last summer was all about belt-breakage and other drivetrain problems. Hopefully I have them all solved.