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Old 2013.01.16, 11:49 AM   #61
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It's interesting that you mentioned XMods as i recall that in years past (5 years ago) running production improvements and upgrades were made to some of Radioshacks other RC product lines (specifically Radioshacks Zip Zaps and Xmod Micros). I recall those lines having cars that were lacking in one feature or another or having glaring weaknesses only to be improved without a public declaration in the next wave of production. PCB's changed. Plastic quality and type changed. Component locations changed as well i believe.

I only bring this up as it seems like Firelap made a running production change (or improvement) from the grey chassis and TG03 to the black and white chassis with the TG05 clearly to address specific quality issues. Based upon what you've reported regarding yours and what i've seen of mine (putting aside the binding cvd for a moment) these cars are clearly better than they were (assuming all of the grey chassis cars were like Bodoms review car & TG03 transmitter). It's a kick ass little car. I'm really curious to see what an extra $100-$200 would get me from Kyosho and if its really worth the price.

Last edited by Customizer; 2013.01.16 at 11:51 AM.
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Old 2013.01.16, 12:21 PM   #62
yamar6
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Kyosho ma-010 has it's problems and not worth the price the 02 and 03 are I hope the ma-010 after market knuckles will fit if so this car will race great with the ma-010.if the color screen radio does not give the awd a brake then I will be putting the mini z brushless system in it I think it will be a better choice then the ma-010
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Old 2013.01.16, 11:48 PM   #63
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wow, great to hear about the improvements on the IW-04M!

I was seriously considering getting this half a year ago (as my previous post confirms) but with all the flaws and money issues I was hesitant...then my friend sold me his MA-010.

I guess this'll be my next car! Then I can keep one w/ long wheelbase (for my Xmods bodies) and one short.
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Old 2013.01.17, 01:13 AM   #64
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FocusOne View Post
wow, great to hear about the improvements on the IW-04M!

I was seriously considering getting this half a year ago (as my previous post confirms) but with all the flaws and money issues I was hesitant...then my friend sold me his MA-010.

I guess this'll be my next car! Then I can keep one w/ long wheelbase (for my Xmods bodies) and one short.

HA! FocusOne i signed in specifically to reply to your PM regarding this car and my opinion with a link to this thread and here you are

I really like the car now that the CVD issue has been fixed. I cant really find fault with it now unless i start to truly nitpick. The body is hard to put on? It has no brake (which i wasn't expecting nor do i want)?

I can only imagine what my opinion would have been like if , like Yamar6, i had no problems out of the box. The CVD fix was minor but i'm looking at it from the perspective of an inexperienced new comer hobbyist (like myself in a manner of speaking) that does not have the patience, knowledge or skill to make repairs minor or major (i'm comfortable with and almost expect to have to repair everything). For the experienced guys on this board the black and white chassis IW04M should be a great car to customize. For a child or teen that just wants a RTR car ..well...Yamar6's car was fine. Mine was about 90% fine due to the CVD problem. I dont think an inexperienced driver or child might have noticed the CVD problem though since it only occurred with sharp turns and at the lowest possible speed.

Anyway , yeah , for someone like you FocusOne this car should be a sweet car to work with. I'm looking forward to seeing what experienced folks do with it ( so i can copy their recipe lol).
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Old 2013.01.17, 02:35 AM   #65
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next month im going to order another one but with the color screen radio but i want to find out if it has a brake also see if i can buy it with the 2 wheel drive one.Because my awd runs perfect also does anyone know if kyosho knuckles fit the white and black chassis the all gray one needed the holes drilled out bigger but firelap says they fit.
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Old 2013.01.17, 03:01 AM   #66
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Good to hear that they improved the quality.
I doubt the response time is great though.
I think the main advantages of the MA-010 are the great electronics (precise and very fast), and also the huge availability of tuning parts. There are superb suspension systems for the MA-010 on the market that are incompatible with IW-04M. And the IW-04M is using the original MA-010 suspension design which isn't great. And even more - the knuckles are incompatible.
IW-04M is great bang for the buck though.
Enjoy your rides
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Old 2013.01.17, 06:07 AM   #67
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Good to hear that they improved the quality.
I doubt the response time is great though.
I think the main advantages of the MA-010 are the great electronics (precise and very fast), and also the huge availability of tuning parts. There are superb suspension systems for the MA-010 on the market that are incompatible with IW-04M. And the IW-04M is using the original MA-010 suspension design which isn't great. And even more - the knuckles are incompatible.
IW-04M is great bang for the buck though.
Enjoy your rides
Bodom i mentioned i would test the cars responsiveness again & i have . This is the best i could do as far as compiling information short of creating a video.

Note: The car had 4 freshly charged NI-MH Rayovac AAA's in it. The Transmitter had Rayovac AA's in it that weren't freshly charged but barely used so i'd consider them "fresh enough" lol.

I turned on your video (the same one that i watched to determine if i wanted this car in the first place last month) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=cYQE-34TlC4 that deals with the cars responsiveness to transmitter commands. The PC monitor is less than a foot and a half from my face showing the video while i'm testing simultaneously. I am in a room with WiFi signal .

The chassis (with no body shell) is placed on top of a glass candle holder 50mm in diameter in order to replicate what you had your review car suspended on.

1. The Black and White chassis IW04m i have is definitely more responsive/faster than the grey one you reviewed in the video when i issued the same commands as you did between 00:05 - 00:19 seconds of the video. It responds differently than yours did between 00:13 - 00:17 seconds of your video as well. In that time frame the review car showed a clear lag where as my black and white chassis did not.

Speculation as to why it responded differently: Fresh batteries in my transmitter and car? Maybe. I personally think it's the transmitter (TG 03) since your review shows a steering lag, sellers whom i haven't bought from said that specific transmitter (TG 03) was the one to avoid if possible and Firelap has issued not 1, not 2 but 3 different transmitters. Clearly they heard something bad about the original TG 03 or they wouldn't have spent the money for a running change (IMO). I cant say if the responsiveness is "great" or not because i dont have a Z to compare it to but it is better than the grey chassis car in the video. I'll run it on my foam track this weekend to see if the car lacks in the handling department. I'm confident that it will handle well based upon your experience on the track that you said was good.

Quotes regarding the transmitters :
Quote:
There are two types with the LCD screen (color TG04c and non color TG03). The one with color lcd has superior range and best handling response. Second most responsive would be TG 05 which doesn't as an lcd screen. I wouldn't recommend the one with non color LCD *Edit: The TG 03 you reviewed the grey chassis with* since it's eating a lot of battery life and has poor performance.
Quote:
I did relay your inquiry with firelap spokesperson in China. She concurred with your assessment and she mentioned the awd model draw a lot of power, therefore, it needs stronger transmitter to control the servo. She mentioned the high end controller(TG-04C)will take care of the problem.
I personally race my IW02 and IW04 on the race track against mini Z, and both of them has less superior controller ability to mini z. However, between IW02 & IW04 I would say they are both equal in response time quality.
^ That quote sealed the deal for me as i have an old IW02 and it handles just fine and is very fun to drive. I've also seen videos of stock IW02's going head to head with MR02's on RCP tracks and they held their own in every race.
Quote:
I do notice mini z has a more superior signal transmission compare to firelap. There are ways to improve signal reception, these are two things I usually do:

- Use a high ampere battery and make sure they are freshly charged prior to use on the transmitter.
- Install an add on antenna in your firelap board/body to boost its signal

I am still researching more ways to increase the response time. However, in the meantime both methods above should increase response time significantly. Hope my 2cents opinions help

*I also read firelap do sell a high end controller(TG-04C) with lot stronger signal and can increase respond time significantly. However, I haven't had chance to get my hand on it yet

2. From 1:24 - 2:40 of your video you seem to be showing both it's responsiveness and the fact that the car wasn't crawling when you barely squeezed the throttle. My car can definitely drive slower than the one in the video when i barely squeeze the trigger but i didn't know how to quantify that statement at first. So what i did is time how long it would take to cross a 14ft distance at the slowest speed. Hardly the most scientific but good enough in this case.
1st 14ft crawl - 9 seconds (slow count). I felt as though i was barely touching the trigger.
2nd 14ft crawl - 10 seconds (slow count).
3rd attempt 01/20/13 - 23 seconds (slow count).
4th attempt 01/20/13 - 22 seconds (slow count).
Hopefully someone can test their own car and see if they have similar slow speeds over 14 ft.

Bodom you mentioned..
Quote:
I think the main advantages of the MA-010 are the great electronics (precise and very fast), and also the huge availability of tuning parts. There are superb suspension systems for the MA-010 on the market that are incompatible with IW-04M. And the IW-04M is using the original MA-010 suspension design which isn't great. And even more - the knuckles are incompatible.
I trust your first hand review that the Kyosho parts aren't compatible but i am looking forward to hearing from Yamar6 after he buys some parts to see if Mini Z parts better fit the current black and white chassis. After going through my Firelap CVD issue briefly i want to see if Kyosho swing shafts are superior right out of the box . I also want to try a few other upgrade parts. BTW..regarding Firelap swing shafts..i guess i'm not alone...
Quote:
i think Firelap is a lot better than the Xmods. only problems i have is all 4 of the swing shaft are broken. so i guess the quality is not that good
Holy crap! I guess i got off lucky with just one CVD that needed fixing.

I paid $66 shipped for my car which i consider to be a great deal for the quality of car i received. Knowing everything i know now if i had to do it over i'd have paid $100 shipped maximum. I plan on buying a Mini Z in the future considering how much i like the Firelap but i will be disappointed if i pay $184-$250 for a Mini Z and it's only marginally better than this Firelap. It better be a night and day difference for me to pay 3-4x as much.

Last edited by Customizer; 2013.01.20 at 03:02 AM.
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Old 2013.01.17, 09:57 AM   #68
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even with the ma-010 old suspension set up i still think it's a better chassis.Just by the lay out every one that has a ma-010 says it's not balanced.I hope kyosho changes the awd chassis more like the new buggy such a better lay out even the xmod street has a better lay out then the ma-010 and I like how the fire lap has a servo so no wondering in the steering

Last edited by yamar6; 2013.01.17 at 09:55 PM.
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Old 2013.01.17, 07:14 PM   #69
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I just ordered atomic cvd's and a set of lowering springs I'll do a review when they come in.also in another forum he has the gray chassis and he said he had to make the holes bigger for the mini z knuckles but on this forum the mini z ones look skinner then the fire lap gray ones so I'm hoping the new black and white chassis they will fit
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Old 2013.01.18, 12:26 AM   #70
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I'm looking forward to an update Maybe not just yet but the black and white chassis IW04M might need a separate review thread considering it seems to be , well, different when compared to the grey chassis.

BTW i just received a reply from another Firelap AWD 2.4ghz owner. The chassis is black & white like ours. I've requested transmitter information from them (response time, quality) so i'll let you know what they say. They also bought a spare grey chassis so i'll see if i can get some comparison information. This is the first reply received (nothing special but it's always nice to have another persons input)...
Quote:
Sorry for the late reply. I am having a lot of fun with the car. It's fast enough and makes plenty tight turns. I locked the rear differential by putting some putty inside it. This helps the car drift a little bit easier. I bought the BMW one and the body is of extremely high quality, right down to the BMW emblems. I would recommend applying some gear grease to the differentials and to the pinion gear of the motor. Do not tighten the wheel nuts too much, as that is how you will break the dogbones. Buy a set of tweezers because hair and dust tends to gather by the wheels and you're going to want to remove that.

I hope this helps you. If you have any more questions, just ask

Last edited by Customizer; 2013.01.18 at 12:38 AM.
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Old 2013.01.18, 09:03 AM   #71
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what radio did he have
Quote:
Originally Posted by Customizer View Post
I'm looking forward to an update Maybe not just yet but the black and white chassis IW04M might need a separate review thread considering it seems to be , well, different when compared to the grey chassis.

BTW i just received a reply from another Firelap AWD 2.4ghz owner. The chassis is black & white like ours. I've requested transmitter information from them (response time, quality) so i'll let you know what they say. They also bought a spare grey chassis so i'll see if i can get some comparison information. This is the first reply received (nothing special but it's always nice to have another persons input)...
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Old 2013.01.18, 09:23 AM   #72
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^
Turns out it was the same one we have (TG05)
Quote:
I haven't noticed any real lag with the transmitter and the range seems impressive. I love the fact that there are no antennas. I think the white controller looks kind of cheesy, although digital trim options are usually better.
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Old 2013.01.18, 09:43 AM   #73
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I might see if I can get the white color screen radio with a 2 wheel drive car so I have both cars because my awd electronics run perfect and don't need another

I just ordered a white enzo awd with the white controller I'll do a full review when it comes in.I'll be selling my other one once my other one comes in for a good price.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Customizer View Post
^
Turns out it was the same one we have (TG05)

Last edited by yamar6; 2013.01.18 at 08:34 PM.
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Old 2013.01.20, 03:01 AM   #74
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An update of sorts. I had some time to run the car this evening and it turns out i can make it "crawl" at a slower speed than i previous thought. Previously it took an average of 9.5 seconds to travel 14 ft at its slowest speed (so i thought). This evening i was able to make it "crawl" 14ft in 23 seconds. If i tried to turn at that slow of speed the car would stop. With just the slightest twitch on the throttle you can crawl and steer simultaneously.

Bottom line: yes it can drive *really* slow.
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Old 2013.01.26, 12:25 PM   #75
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I put in pn racing cvd's in a much better fit no wobble and the wheel does not move in and out
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