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Countless R/Cers, myself certainly included, typically think of Radio Shack as the place where we got our first radio-controlled vehicle(s) before discovering "real" hobby-level R/Cs (after which we never look back). However, when Tamiya America team member David Jun drove home with a souped-up full-scale Acura NSX worth an estimated $120,000 US for winning Radio Shack's 2004 XMODS racing series, I couldn't help but do a double-take. For a company to even give away a $12,000 car for racing an R/C that starts at $49.95 ready-to-run would mean there was something going on that was worthy of investigation. The NSX giveaway, though, blew my mind. It wasn't long before my own XMODS arrived at work.
Presentation
The packaging of an XMODS car is very, very impressive. Inside of the durable translucent case with double clip locks is a very carefully-fit, cutout styrofoam bed into which are embedded the various parts you will use to assemble the vehicle. Yes, some assembly is required. As I mentioned in my Zip Zaps MT review, Radio Shack has figured out that it's more fun and empowering to do some work on an R/C before you can run it, than to just plug in some batteries & go.
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Assembly
I decided to forego convention and actually follow the assembly instructions rather than just piecing everything together intuitively (which wouldn't have been hard at all). There's actually not all that much to do, in fact. The first step is to affix the wheels & tires, and much to my surprise this was a bit of a pain. It was difficult to get the tiny plastic wheel nuts onto the
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The only other thing you need to do to the chassis itself is attach the antenna. I felt the instructions on how to position the antenna were not clear, so you can refer to the photo at right for the "picture is worth a thousand words" explanation of what they meant.
Putting the body together was fairly easy, though the manufacturer needs to rethink their documentation strategy here. They give generic illustrated instructions for some vehicles, and include notes of a couple of exceptions at the bottom of the page. Somehow the Corvette I got is not covered, though. For instance, the instructions mention a rear spoiler and a bumper, but the Vette has just one piece for the rear. It'd be nice if the manual was explicitly generic, and referred you to a separate insert with specific instructions for your precise vehicle. They did include two sets of rearview mirrors, though -- nice touch, as I'm sure these are the most likely things to break off from the body. A decal sheet is also included to allow you to place your adhesive horsepower-adders wherever you want. I opted out.
Design
First for the basic overview. The car is 1/28th scale, the same size as Kyosho's Mini-Z (though Mini-Z bodies will not fit without custom-fabricated mounts). It has a mid-mounted motor, rear wheel drive (upgradable to 4WD), and gear differential. Batteries compartments are on the sides (it takes 4 AAA's) and there is a combination ESC/receiver unit that sits next to a proportional steering servo. The car also features independent spring suspension all around.
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Fit & finish leaves a lot to be desired. Slop in the wheels is absolutely enormous, so much so that binding with the suspension is very easy. I usually don't recommend an immediate upgrade for such a low-end product, but I don't think I could bear driving this for long without wheel bearings. Hopefully they actually help with the assembly, and don't slop around in the carriers themselves.
The tires are nice & soft, but quite untrue. After running the car for a bit, the wear pattern on my front right tire consisted of a line that goes from the inside 2mm at one point, zig-zagging across to the far opposite side and back, never covering more than 2/3rds of what would be an expected contact patch. The left front rode on a ~4mm swath of the inside. For proper traction, upgrade wheels & tires are needed.
Next up, I have to make a note of the rear suspension geometry. It's the most bizarre thing I've seen in a long, long time. The single-wishbone design gains negative camber twice as fast as an old Volskwagen Beetle, or the 1979 Tamiya Super Champ. In hard cornering, the outside rear tire actually gains significant positive camber as the rear of the car is jacked up, rather than the whole thing leaning to the outside and cambering in as would normally be expected.
The final thing I did not like was how the body rode a bit high. This is mostly an aesthetic issue, though. In fairness, I suppose it's intentional, allowing room for the installation of optional body kits with low skirts & large airdams & such.
The controller, I'm pleased to say, is quite impressive for a $50 R/C. I'd even go so far as to call it unmatched. First off, it allows both left- and right-handed use. Major kudos for this. You're given steering range adjustment, very fine & precise digital steering trim buttons, and a low/high "throttle trim" switch which gives you the option of limiting your maximum speed for highly technical courses or letting a small child play with it. Steering wheel and throttle feel is only slightly gritty, and the wheel doesn't have much recoil jitter when you turn one way and let go of it. Lastly, the whole thing folds in two for storage or transportation in your pocket. Great design work here.
Performance
Due to their small size and limited ground clearance & suspension travel, XMODS should only be run on well-prepared surfaces, preferrably indoors. The only such place readily available to me was my linoleum-floored kitchen. Fortunately it's long enough to let the car get up to full speed, but tight quarters at either end limited my ability to run continuous courses. As such, I didn't try to get any runtime figures, but I was able to get a good feeling for the handling characteristics of the car.
Despite all of its design & assembly quirks, everything about the XMODS' performance was smooth and delightfully predictable. Acceleration with the stock motor is modest, but linear. The turning radius is pretty bad for the size of the car, but it is consistent for a given speed, and brake input will tighten the radius down nicely. Once the tires pick up some fine dust, you can even start to get the rear end loose by turning & slowing suddenly.
Ah yes, about brakes. The car has them. If it's moving forward and you hit reverse throttle and hold it, it does not jump into reverse, period. Instead, it slows the car to a controlled stop and then just sits there. You have to let go of the throttle completely and push it forward again to actually get into reverse. This takes a bit of getting used to, but I'm still absolutely tickle pink that this little inexpensive car has functioning brakes. It means you can get up to top speed, slow for a turn, and accelerate out of it without ever worrying about unintentionally spinning out from sudden reverse engagement.
The car does not handle surface irregularities of any noticeable size, but this is to be expected of a vehicle of such small size. My $120+ Mini-Z didn't fare any better in this regard.
Final Analysis
Well there you have it. I'm disappointed in the build quality of the vehicle, like the controller a good deal, and think the thing drives pretty well for a $49.95 RTR R/C. The cool thing is that there are numerous upgrades available, through either Radio Shack itself or a number of the hobby-class hopup manufacturers we're familiar with. However, hopups will very quickly take you into the $100+ range overall, at which point you might as well have started with a Mini-Z, or even the inexpensive iWaver clones which accept many Mini-Z parts.
I think XMODS are truly excellent for kids & adolescents to get their hands dirty with R/C's and have fun exchanging body kits & different-looking wheels. However, for teens & adults, unless you just want to fool around around in the school or office cafeteria, you can do better.
