Loading...

Xpress EXECUTE XQ1S 1/10 touring car Build tips and review

The Xpress racing brand will be fondly remembered by those of us who have been racing touring cars for a long time, in their heyday they ...


The Xpress racing brand will be fondly remembered by those of us who have been racing touring cars for a long time, in their heyday they were a popular manufacturer and they enjoyed some great results before fading away into relative obscurity. In the last 18 months they have have resurfaced with a range of chassis including XQ1 their new top end touring car.

The XQ1 has proven to be a competent chassis. Atsushi Hara has championed one at the 2017 reedy race of champions.

To appeal to the newcomer market, they have released the XQ1S. The S denotes a sport model. While XQ1 is marketed as a top level racer, the sport model uses the same DNA, but with less expensive parts. Whilst a lot of alloy/carbon fibre is used on the XQ1, the XQ1s utilizes composite composite plastics & fiberglass

I have built many touring cars in my time as a racer. To gauge a fair evaluation, I had to consider the car as a novice. How would a novice tackle the build? Are there any areas that they may struggle with?

Unboxing & assembly


The kit is sealed in individual bags to make identification a lot easier during the build. The manual is laid out very well with precise drawings & accurate lengths of screws to help with finding the right parts for the build.

You do get a set of allen keys and a box wrench to build the car in the box. I would personally recommend you invest in a decent set of allen drivers to build and maintain this car.  The kit plastics are quite hard & will wear on your fingers

There are also a set of handy multi tools that will prove very helpful in the build

The only thing I didn’t like was that you go through many bags during the build, it’s a lot of back/forth to find 1 part. It would make more sense to use less bags & keep the layout more simple

When you get to the bulkheads, you find that they are a 1 piece design. This reduces the amount of parts used & also prevents any misaligned bulkheads which can cause drivetrain issues. They are supported by 2 plates. These are actually tools to assist with the build. On the sides, there are measurements to build the turnbuckles to the exact lengths, a ride height gauge & a turnbuckle building slot

My only real issue with the build is building the turnbuckles. Many racers will say this the least enjoyable part of any car build, and this is definitely true with this kit. The plastics are very hard & threading them straight was very difficult.  I tried adding grease & heating the plastic to cut easier but it was still a very difficult part of the build.

The Tools even give you the starting sizes for the turnbuckles.
I eventually got them fitted & used the handy multi tools to get the right sizes. The ball end on the multi tool made the job slightly better to build

When I fitted them to the car, they would pop off the ball ends if you tried to adjust the turnbuckles as they would not move on the threads as they were so stiff. I mentioned this to the Xpress UK team driver and have been informed that all of the new kits now come with version 2 ball cups. These are a slightly softer plastic and work much better, it is great to see a company listen to feedback and adapt the product :)

The rear differential is a similar unit to most vehicles on the market & very straightforward to build. The common practice of sanding the back of the gears is not out of place here.

Just a light sanding to take the molding flash off which helps to build a smooth diff action. The manual states to fill it with 1.3g of oil. This seems like too much in my opinion. The gears were completely submerged. I started again & filled to 1.1g, this filled past the pins & is a sufficient amount to give a smooth action

When lubricating the seals, I used team associated green slime. I also used it on the main seal to prevent leakage

Top tip: Add a small drop of paint on the differential bearing carriers. This makes fitment & further adjustments easier.

Drivetrain


The motor mount attaches one to the layshaft mounts. This allows flex in the mount to give a tuning aid. The other side bolts directly to the chassis.

The suspension pivot blocks are a solid piece & are marked for the exact area to the car.

When you fit the lower bulkheads to the chassis, they slot into the chassis which aids fitment & alignment. This prevents the bulkheads moving in the result of a crash & keep everything in place

The top bulkheads are also 1 piece which works in the same way as the lower bulkheads

The car comes supplied with an 116t 64dp spur gear. Personally, if you are a beginner I would recommend a 48dp spur gear as these are easier to mesh & are more reliable for a novice. I knew the track I was going to test at required a smaller spur gear, so I fitted a 100t.

Top tip: To ensure the steering blocks are aligned when you fit the screws, use a kingpin alignment tool to tap the threads. This ensures the screws are perfectly aligned & there is no binding in the steering

You are given a choice of floating steering or rigid steering to the chassis. I chose to fit it as a floating steering setup

I built the driveshafts with anti-wear grease to prevent wear & create smooth driveshafts

I ran the suspension arms with a 3mm arm reamer to make sure the pins work smoothly.

Make sure they drop under their own weight when fitted

Shocks

These are a pretty straightforward build. I used green slime on the o-rings to prevent leaking & a smooth action.

The pistons, guides & spacers are on a parts spur, never seen this before! 

You have to be precise to trim these off or you will get an inconsistent shock build.  Once trimmed the shocks are very easy to build with equal rebound

I would recommend pre-tapping the shock end with a screw to make the shock easier to build. If your grip slips on the shaft, you can damage them & would cause leakage if the shafts are scratched

I built the rest of the car, mounted my electronics. Once done, I checked the car on the setup gauges & hit the track

Test drive

I chose to race at the Forest Raceway in the Forest of Dean on one of their club nights. It was a championship night, but I wasn’t planning on attending on any other events. One of the committee members is also an Xpress team driver, so it’s an Xpress home track. The team driver was able to loan me a bodyshell as I was pushed for time

I raced at this track a few week previous with my Destiny RX-10SR, so this was a perfect opportunity to see how it compared. I applied the additive & hit the track for a few laps of practice. The car felt very easy to drive & predictable. Due to the stiff ball cups, I focused on driving around the track, not focusing on a perfect setup

With the Destiny, I was able to set a 5 minute pace of 40/304.92 with a fastest lap of 7.36. This was a pace I was looking for

I set of into round 1 of qualifying to see how the car drove at race pace. I was out as car 1 as I had a high pace from a few weeks ago. Although the car was easy to drive, it was very easy to push hard on the limit. I finished the run in the lead with 1 38/ 300.73 & a fastest lap of 7.62. I knew the car had more to come if I had a clean run

I focused on round 2 with a cleaner run. I was able to get an improvement of 39/ 307.61 with a fastest lap of 7.56. This was only 0.2 seconds slower than my destiny. If I could keep the average lap lower, I felt confident that I could hit the 40 lap mark
The car is lined up and ready to race
I set off into round 3 with high expectations. However, I set off on the first lap with a horrible vibration from the front left wheel. It looked like the shock has come off, so I pulled off as I wasn’t going to improve. In the pits, I checked the car over & found everything in place. I put it down to something on the tyres

I lined up for the final in pole position. We set off at a decent pace. The vibration came back, but wasn’t consistent. A marshal had a quick look & couldn’t find anything wrong. I carried on & noticed that the vibration was actually due to the bodyshell catching on the tyres when I pushed hard into the corners. I carried on for a few laps but decided to stop in case it tore a tyre. Next time I will fit my own bodyshell (Doh!)


Overall

As a novice build, it’s a very simple build without any dramas. The manual is very clear & you won’t struggle to understand any part of the build

On the track, the car is very easy to drive. The flex of the plastic & FRP actually gave a lot of grip & would embarrass a lot of high spec TC cars. For the price, it’s a really good chassis with plenty of potential. Personally, I was shocked on how well it performed with very little setup & track time

Another great feature is that the parts are directly compatible with the high end XQ1, so you can add these higher specification parts to your XQ1S as you develop your racing skills.

So in summary, low price, good specs and competitive out of the box, so if you want a cost effective entry into racing 1/10 onroad, the Xpress Execute XQ1S is a great option to consider.
Xpress 4714936265840475032

Post a Comment

  1. I built one too. I'd definitely mention to your readers, that when building the car, put in the bulkhead aluminum cross peices before you bolt anything else to the bulkheads.

    I see you use a screw to thread into bits of the car. Seriously, spend the $7 and pick up a thread forming tap. (not a typical cutting one, but a thread rolling/forming tap.)

    Here's my review of the build. http://realtinker.blogspot.com/2018/09/xpress-execute-cars-club-racer-some.html We come to about the same conclusion.

    .... I really like this car.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

emo-but-icon

Home item

Support this site

Featured post

Tamiya Suspension Mount Ultimate setting Guide and charts

The Tamiya suspension mounts are a powerful tuning option to help you refine the way in which your car will handle on the track. Th...

Search This Blog

Like us on Facebook!

Popular Posts

Translate

Random Posts

Article Archive

Other things