Winning Equation – X Factory X-6 Squared

The ‘Most successful mid-motor 2WD buggy’ has become even better, according to X Factory’s own Chazz Sinclair. Really? We will find out. When US based company X Factory introduced the X-6 three years ago it made a huge impact on the otherwise ‘traditional’ 2WD off-road buggy market. The X-6 utilized an unconventional design by dropping the popular rear motor design for the promising mid-motor layout associated with certain Italian sports cars … Despite that fact that some voices arose that state a real 2WD buggy has to have a rear mounted motor, the success of the X-6, especially in the UK, showed that X Factory made the correct decision. After introducing the upgraded ‘4-Gear’ version of the X-6 last year, X Factory have just released the new X-6 Squared with further improvements to make for a totally ‘dialled’ and near perfect ‘out of the box’ buggy. Well, sort of …

Convert-able
As usual with X Factory cars you do not get a complete buggy or truck for your money but a conversion kit with everything needed to convert your:
– Losi XX-4 into an X-5 Squared
– Associated T4 in to an X-60
– Associated B4 into an X-6 Squared
This is why X Factory packaging is relatively small in size and only contains a minimum of parts like a new chassis and body, new gearboxes and rear wishbones to name just a few. The remainder of the necessary parts are taken from the donor truck or buggy (in our case a one year old 4-Gear X-6). This gives you the possibility to build up your car from scratch (by using a new kit) or re-build it when taking it apart before the actual build of the X-car (like we did). Nuff said. What’s new on the new X-6 Squared?

Front
Since the front suspension is taken from an Associated B4/X Factory X-6 donor car nothing new happened here. But changes have taken place just behind AE steering assembly. Where the original X-6 made use of a separate front plate that attached to the chassis the Squared chassis is a one-piece affair similar to the B4 chassis. It also does away with the Losi servo mount including the upper servo locating plate – an area that required a lot of ‘dremeling’ on the previous car. The new design uses the standard B4 servo mounting brackets and does away with the upper Losi part making for a much cleaner look and also allows for a weight distribution change by fitting the servo in a forward or rearward position.

Middle
More changes have taken place in the mid part of the new and improved chassis plate. The original X-6 chassis was designed around the 4+2 battery cell layout introduced with the X Factory X-5 4WD buggy. This caused one or the other problem when LiPo stick-type batteries came into play as the internal ribs within the battery tray caused the battery pack to sit too high leading into a relatively high centre of gravity. Also the two cell battery compartment just behind the servo was not of use anymore but was perfect for locating the speedo, if you could get rid of that darn reinforcement rib that separated the two cell slots. The new X-6 Squared chassis does away with the aforementioned problems.

The LiPo pack still sits a tad higher in its housing compared to a NiHM battery pack but the front (former two cell) department now is free of any reinforcing ribs and ideal for mounting anything but the largest 1/10 scale brushless speedo. Those who are familiar with the older X-6 design will also notice that X Factory did away with the openings underneath the chassis leaving a nice and smooth surface. No more taping in wet or very dusty conditions! On top of the battery pack the new LiPo retaining carbon fibre battery brace with cut-out X Factory logo can be found. Way cool! The brace features two countersunk screw holes to fit the new Dirtz Dialed Parts (DDP) Transmission Brace that we showed you some days ago on Red RC.

Unfortunately X Factory did away with retaining clips in favour of four screws meaning that changing the battery pack for storage or charging is more time consuming than before. We tried to use Associated’s blue anodized knurled nuts (as found on the B44 buggy) but at least the ones for the screws up front interfere with the body … Also, depending on the LiPo battery you use, the brace might sit a bit too high. This issue can be resolved by adding some suitable spacers or washers.