Evo vs Xmods what are differences?

I must confess I am addicted to these darn things and I have amassed quite a collection of parts and upgrades including various body styles. Currently there are a total of six new models 4 Car models and 2 Truck models (click Here to view) but aside from some major chassis changes some of the parts are interchangeable between the Xmod and Evo, generally all the wheel upgrades and body styles from either the Xmod and Evo are fully interchangeable. I recently picked up the Corvette Xmod and quickly converted it to the Evo chassis mind you when I said the body styles were interchangeable I think the corvette must have been the sole model that doesn't seem to fit the Evo without a few carefully removed pieces plastic from the interior of the body shell (more on this later).

So according to Radio Shack:
"XMODS have always been fast. Now they're blinding fast, thanks to a totally re-engineered Evolution Series chassis and more powerful Evolution Series motor".

• 10% faster right out of the box.
• Up to 75% faster with motor upgrade Top speed of up to 880 feet per minute
• Lower center of gravity offers faster turns, improved braking
• 40% narrower turning radius for precise handling.

Here is a quick look at the new chassis and further down I'll talk about my impressions after tweaking and running the new Evo chassis.

		Original Xmod Chassis (2003) The important features to note are the center mounted motor and side mounted Battery holders.
		New Evolution Chassis (2005) No side mounted Battery holders as the batteries have been relocated to under the chassis also note the motor has turned 90 degrees and is now sitting sideways near the rear of the chassis.
		The suspension has also been changed the original Xmod utilizes the yellow swing arms style while the newer Evo uses an unique floating pivot arm system where the suspension actually pivots from side to side before the springs start to absorb any bumps in the road. This results in a rear-end that stays stuck to the road, you may have heard of a similar idea using a monoshock that runs across the shock towers of the swingarms on the Original Chassis I assure you the Evo method is as good or better.
		Here you can clearly see the new location for the batteries but what you don't see is that the new chassis tries to cover all the driveline parts which vastly reduces the amount of dirt and hair you'll be cleaning out of them.
		The Truck chassis is very similar but obviously sits much higher off the ground, the motor is placed even further back but shares the same transmission from the car chassis.
		The only really obvious differences are the larger wheels and much higher ground clearance from the car chassis. Note the truck uses orange parts and the car chassis uses green parts so it should be fairly obvious when buying suspension upgrades which go with which.

Bear in mind I can't live without a few upgrades and I have already installed the AWD system and the extremely important ball-bearings along with the suspension upgrade so if you find your experience out of the box varied from mine then please install the above mentioned upgrades immediately as owning a Xmod without these basic upgrades really seems pointless! I even managed to leave the stock motor in for a full day before trying the Stage 3 motor upgrade!

So is the new Evo better than the original Xmod and where is it improved?

1. The steering servo motor is much bigger and the Evo will literally run circles around the original Xmod right out of the box in fact the steering trim on the controller will actually get some use now as the Evo has an increased the turning radius of at least 40%.
2. Relocating the batteries to under the chassis is great for handling as this lowers the center of gravity and improves handling. The battery tray is also adjustable forwards or back to help fine tune the weight distribution.
3. The driveline is interesting as it has been constructed mostly from plastic and with such small parts I wondered how it would handle the stress of a high performance motor so I installed the The Blue Power SE EVO (It comes with 45 turns of 31AWG) and proceeded to drive the hell out of the Evo. So far the driveline appears to be holding up well, I have also just ordered Front and Rear aluminum dogbones so if I do break one I'll have a much stronger replacement.
4. I also found the new chassis to run much quieter and smoother than the original it also seems to have a smoother acceleration.
5. The Evo chassis also includes two electrical upgrade connectors so that you can run the Ground effects and Light command system at the same time.
6. The new electronics board sports larger traces and now uses a one board design which eliminates the extra wiring between the receiver, servo and MainBoard. The new board also sports better FET's which seem to be able to handle 9 amps at peak and at least the double the 3.5 amps of the original FET's.
7. The Motors are now pinion less...
   Well let me explain the original Xmod motor/upgrade had a brass pinion permanently stuck on the motor shaft, removal required a pinion puller The Evo motor uses these new plastic pinions that you just push on and pull off! I thought at first how in the hell are they going to not slip but after several removals and install on different motor shafts they still seem to work perfectly.
8. Fully interchangeable with the older Xmod Body styles and kits with the use of the new clip which is provide in the starter kit
9. Generally upgrades such as the AWD upgrade are much easier to install and any maintenance is made easier with the new chassis hell even the amount of unique screws has been reduced to two types.
10. Options for Short (Acura RSX), Medium (Corvette) and Long (Infiniti G35) wheelbases remain with the addition or removal of a single spacer.

Do I have any complaints other than the fact I wish these came AWD out of the box?

Simply put I can't find any real fault with the new chassis it's obvious that someone has done a lot of homework and listened to feedback as I for one always hated the poor turning radius the original Xmod had.

I love the new Evo so much that after running it for these past few days I simply can't be bothered with the older Xmod chassis and I have in fact sold all of them! I have even succumbed so far that I have ordered the new Hummer H2 Truck Evo and can't wait to try it outdoors I figure with the large wheels high ground clearance and protected driveline these should be a real hoot. I'll fill you in later if I discover anything new about the Evo truck chassis

Here is a little more info for you (if the photo is hard to see you click on it to enlarge).
(added Feb 10 2006)

A These two connectors are for the Command Logic Light kits.
B These wires lead to the servo positioning sensor.
C These wires lead to the servo motor.
D The Hot or positive terminal for the motor.
E The negative terminal for the motor.
F The FET's (Field Effect Transistors) these regulate the voltage sent to the motor.
G The positive terminal for the batteries located under the chassis.
H The negative terminal for the batteries located under the chassis.
I The crystal which determines which channel your Xmod will run on.

I mentioned that the original Xmod body kits were compatible with the new Evo's
in the photo above the part outlined and marked B is the new body clip (an extra is included with your starter kit) The Corvette used here may be the only exception for correct fit when used with the Evo chassis as the only way to get the chassis to fit is to remove the holding post used to secure the lower side skirts. Note that at point A the piece was removed and the post shaved to allow the sideways mounted motor of the Evo chassis to fit, some creative use of crazy Glue on the side skirt solved the problem of the side skirt falling off. Lastly if you look at the wires for the Command Logic Light kit you'll notice no tape was used! I have discovered that a few well place drops of crazy glue on the wires solves the tape issue and remember to place a few drops on the lights where they enter the body kit this keeps them neatly in place, if you happen to have an Infiniti G35 body you'll be thanking me for this tip later. to see some pictures of the Corvette click Here