XRAY Model Racing Cars
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| Team XRAY Model Racing Cars | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Slovakia |
| Key people | Juraj Hudy, Mario Hudy, Martin Hudy, Barry Baker, Paul LeMieux, Teemu Leino |
| Industry | Racing |
| Products | Radio-controlled Cars |
| Website | www.teamxray.com |
XRAY Model Racing Cars, otherwise known as XRAY was founded by Slovak engineer Juraj Hudy in 2000. Hudy had been making his own model racing cars, mostly gas driven, at home in his garage since the early 1970s. In 1989, after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Juraj Hudy introduced a top secret, self developed formula to produce the highest quality parts from spring steel. This material was marketed through his company Hudy and was used in Serpent radio controlled gas cars. In 2000, Hudy established the XRAY Model Racing Cars company to develop high tech, high quality RC model racing cars. Initially beginning in electric onroad racing, the company now also produces both electric and gas offroad cars in a variety of scales.
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[edit] 1:10th On-Road Racing
From the beginning, Juraj Hudy's goal was to develop high quality, competitive model cars. Initially, Juraj was involved in the design of the Corally C4 and C4.1 touring cars, and earlier, the Serpent range of nitro touring cars. However, Juraj wanted a chassis to call his own, and set new standards in quality.
The design of the first chassis commenced at the beginning of 1999. The design of the chassis was done using a 3D CAD program with the first testing done in virtual reality which allowed the durability of the parts to be tested. This design was completed by the middle of 1999, and several prototypes were selected to be produced. All of the prototypes were constructed at the Hudy Factory using CNC milling machines. At the end of 1999, the prototypes were completed and testing began on a variety of asphalt and carpet racing tracks. After several months of testing, the final design was chosen and production began.
[edit] 2001-2002
XRAY's first car was named T1. A 1:10 scale belt driven competition touring car. The car was developed and used by a small factory team during 2001. During the world championships 2002, surprisingly, the team driver Jilles Groskamp from Holland managed to make the A-Main with his T1 car. This was a huge step forward for the team and later that year, XRAY released the improved T1 Evo2 version, followed by the F.O.C. (Freedom Of Choice) edition, which contained an updated C-Hub suspension as used by Jilles at the worlds, as well as the original Pivot Ball suspension.
[edit] 2003
During this year, the Evo2 impressed once again by putting on an amazing performance at the European Championships in Austria where the Swedish team-driver Andreas Myrberg finished third and Jilles Groskamp second after an amazing fight to the finish line with the winner Juho Levanen from Finland. Andreas Myrberg also made the A-Main at the world's most competitive race, the Japanese Championships. The T1 of Andreas was the only belt driven car in the final.
This year also sawthe release of the T1Raycer (or T1R), which was a nylon reinforced plastic tub chassis, top deck and shock towers mated to the rest of an Evo2. Essentially it was a car aimed at budget racers, but many factory drivers were seen running the new tub to give further tuning options.
[edit] 2004
Winter of 2004, XRAY released an updated car once again called the T1 Factory Kit, this chassis had different bulkheads and new suspension parts. The Factory Kit was top qualifier at the European Championships in Sweden but did not win after bad luck in the rainy finals. The American Ralph Burch won the big Snowbird Nationals event in February, which is driven indoors with foam tires. Josh Cyrul took home the ROAR and the US Nationals held in Cleveland the same year. This car became known as the 'FK04', following the next year's release.
[edit] 2005
Early January, XRAY took part in the DHI Cup of Denmark with a new prototype chassis. The car featured a new, lower drivetrain as well as a different top-deck and bulkheads. The new car was called FK05 and was released to the public in late March. The FK05 won the Snowbird Nationals, the US Nationals, the Cleveland nationals and finished second at the two Reedy races outdoors and won a lot of other major events during 2005. Notably, the FK05 has an Xray-patented 'Multidiff', which combines a standard one-way, a locked one-way and a spool (solid axle) all in one unit, which can be changed from one function to another simply by moving a pin and a rubber ring.
In the 1:8 scale off-road class, French team driver Yannick Aigoin took top qualifying position at the European championships. He was using XRAYs new buggy car XB8, which is gas powered.
[edit] 2006
Late 2005, XRAY showed up a totally new and redesigned car at the Carpet World Cup in Switzerland. Martin Hudy and Jilles Groskamp both put on a great performance by finishing 2nd and 3rd after the world champion Marc Rheinard. The new chassis was called the T2 and featured a new chassis with a new, improved suspension, an even lower Center of Gravity as well as improved shock absorbers. The T2 continued its domination at the DHI Cup a month later with almost identical results, but this time the young swede Viktor Wilck finished third. At the prestigious Snowbird Nationals in February, the T2 was unstoppable. It won basically all classes and did not spare a lot of podium places to other manufacturers at all.
Following the success of the T2, XRAY released the T2R, a chassis based on the T2 but at a more affordable price. The main design of the T2R is the same as the regular T2, but uses the following cheaper parts:
Front ball differential instead of the XRAY Multidiff<sup>TM</sup> Solid layshaft instead of a hollow layshaft [[FRP]] chassis parts instead of [[carbon fibre]]
With the RRP set around £140, the demand for this chassis far outstripped supply (partly due to the price - it was cheaper for existing T2 owners to buy the T2R for spares instead of buying parts individually). This led to many distributors and shops selling out. In December 2006 XRAY announced that the production of the T2R would be suspended to allow the NT1 to be manufactured. In February, Mirage Enterprises (UK Distributor) announced on the RC Racechat forum that production would resume later in the year, and there would be a price increase.
[edit] 2007
For 2007 Xray released two new version of the T2 called "T2'007". One version the T2'007 US features a stiffer chassis and is meant for high grip foam tyres racing more popular in the US. The other version "T2 007 EU" features a more flexible chassis designed to give more grip for rubber tyre racing which is more popular in Europe. Both versions feature lower bulkheads and a redesigned top deck. Both are similar to the T2 in respect of the suspension and layout of the chassis.
Also, XRAY released their first nitro touring car, the NT1. Based on Juraj Hudy's previous experience in the class, it is not radically different from existing chassis, but still has XRAY's renowned quality.
[edit] 2008
2008 started out with the loss of top driver Jilles Groskamp, who switched to Tamiya.
Three new versions of the T2 were launched under the name T2 008, these were available in US and EU with 5 and 6 cell options for the EU.
[edit] Current 1/10th chassis
- T2 008 US Foam-Spec 6-Cell Edition
- T2 008 EU Rubber-Spec 5 Cell Edition
- T2 008 EU Rubber-Spec 6 Cell Edition
- T2R
- NT1
[edit] 1:8th off-road racing
In 2005, XRAY released the XB8 off-road car, which is a nitro powered buggy. In the 2005 European Championships, French team driver Yannick Aigoin qualified first in class using the XB8. Later in the year, XRAY released the XB8R, aimed at the more budget end of the market, like XRAY did with the TxR range of the electric touring cars.
Towards the end of 2006 the XB8TQ was released to celebrate XRAY's TQ (Top Qualifier ) at the 1/8th Gas Worlds, and early 2007 saw the announcement of the XB8 EC (Euro Champion) edition. Also, XRAY moved into the burgeoning 'Truggy' category with the XT8 truck.
In 2008, XRAY also announced an "all-new" 1/8th scale off-road nitro buggy to replace the XRAY XB8 EC. The new buggy will be called the XRAY 808 (a.k.a. XB808). The XB808 was released on 2/7/2008 and became available for purchase in the US around mid to late April 2008. XRAY announced there would be no changes to the XT8 in 2008. Team XRAY has "no immediate plans to alter the XT8 and it will remain with the same specifications for the 2008 season."
[edit] Current 1/8th chassis
[edit] 1:18th Scale cars
XRAY has been continuously growing as a company and have been producing a few cars of the "mini 1:18th scale" type. Since 2005, a number of cars have been released, for both on-road and off-road racing, in both electric and nitro power forms.
The M18 is a shaft-drive 4WD on-road touring car, powered by an electric motor and a battery pack. The car is designed with independent suspension. XRAY then used the main platform to spawn the M18T, 1:18th Scale Offroad Stadium Truck which can be used on rough surfaces and jumped over small jumps. The car is powered by an electric motor which powers a shaft drivetrain to the four wheels. Xray then produced the M18MT, which is a monster truck version of the M18T, with the only differences are larger tires, 4 additional oil-filled shocks and a higher ride height.
After a short while XRAY surprised the RC world with the NT18. The NT18 is the world's first 1:18th scale nitro touring car. It is similar to the M18 with its shaft-driven drivetrain, but is powered by a 0.8cc nitro engine. XRAY again added off-road capabilities in the forms of the NT18T and NT18MT.
