XRAY NT18T

Team Xray seem to have almost a fetish for the micros nowadays as they’ve already shown us through the exquisite ‘M’ range of electric mini cars and trucks, so I suppose the next obvious step for them was to extend this and make a mini nitro. Now although I normally prefer something more substantial in my hands to fondle, in this case I’ll go with the saying of - anything more than a handful is a waste – as I’m a bit of a sucker for these things and I just love building them.

Build me up buttercup

Of course the NT18T comes in a similar sized box as its electric friends, requires building from a kit just the same and shares some of the integral parts, but there are some undeniable changes to its framework that make it stand out as an original.

The first part of the build is to locate the pre-built ball diffs into their housings and surround it with A-arms, driveshafts, pivot balls and knuckles before attaching the 54 turn hardened steel spur gear for the rear section. Only then can you use the long screws to tighten everything up with the supplied Hudy screwdriver as they pass through the top of the pivot ball clad arms and directly into the diff casing and I’ve already used 16 of the overall 24 bearings to help it all run as smooth as silk. What you must pay huge attention to is the four different kinds of nickel coated steel pivot balls and exactly where each one goes (there are 36 in total), especially for the front end because once snapped into place they aren’t the easiest to get out again and it all goes to see the correct amount of preset camber and toe, precision is everything in an Xray.

Time now to fish out the 1.5mm thick CNC machined Swiss 7075 T6 aluminium chassis so I can screw the bumpers and entire front and rear ends onto it, although before the rear end goes on I’ll need to attach a collar and the laser cut precision hand ground steel brake disc to the main driveshaft that connects front to rear and gives us the 4WD action.

Concentration levels need to go up a gear here because I have to locate the teensy T6 flywheel, two shoe ally clutch with mini springs and the cutest Hudy steel 16 toothed clutch bell with little bearings and marry them to the 0.8cc bump start nitro engine, along with its ally engine mounts and tuned ally pipe. The 30cc fuel tank with its Hypertonic lid and internal stone filter finds its place on the chassis first and has four O rings between it and the chassis to help keep vibrations down, The engine then takes its place facing backwards with a small foam element air filter to look after it.

With a top speed claimed to be over 30mph, it’ll be sure to come to a halt when needed because it has Ferodo fibre brake pads that glue onto steel callipers, they envelop the steel disc and will be employed by yet another piece of steel in the cam post before the brake enclosure is bolted into place so I can get on and sort out the composite radio tray. Two Xray XMS01MG micro servos have a place to live now as does the on/off switch and the supplied 4.8 volt battery for which the radio tray has special slots in to ensure a bit a security for it via some zip ties. I did slip a 6V hump pack in there though as the space was there and I’ll mount my Spektrum receiver away from it at the front of the top deck.

Now is the time for the fiddly bits because I have to make up the micro turnbuckles, steering links and the servo saver. But alas Xray have little hex slots in the ends of the turnbuckles and links so it is an almost effortless task. The large and small sprung rings take place on the servo saver and I quickly bolt it onto the steering servo before it all pings off, more bearings are used here to keep it all as smooth as can be and the top deck and shock towers can now go in place.

The final assembly is to make up the shocks, add the anti roll bars and throttle/ brake linkages and bolt the wheels and tyres on for my complete micro Xray nitro off-roader. All that’s missing is the shell which has already been off to visit Jim from Absolute Control who was asked to carry on from the Sonic the Hedgehog theme the M18T received, and as there’ll be a trail of smoke coming from it I picked Sonic’s mate, Tails, to make an appearance. The body shell is deliberately made to have the wide sides in order to cover the pipe sticking out, which looks a bit strange but nevertheless it’ll do a good job of keeping the dirt out.

Little steps

Having fitted the micro 0.8cc bump start engine to the truck I’ll need to somehow start it, but strangely would you believe, it won’t fit onto my Mugen starter box. So step forward the purpose made Hudy micro starter box! This comes fully built and ready to go barring that it needs a 7.2V stick pack battery inside to power it, easily installed by taking the back end plate of the box off and locating into its designated space. A word of warning here and that is to keep your fingers away from the rubber wheel when the battery is connected, it may be small in size but it packs a hell of a punch and will easily cause damage to any soft tissue that gets near it whilst spinning. Putting the NT18T on top of it shows that it has already been setup to accept the truck perfectly, all that’s needed is some fuel and a glow plug warmer. I filled it up with some 16% Byrons and got on with running the tiny engine in.
I searched in vain for some break in instructions, but found absolutely nothing anywhere in the box to give me suggestions, so I did a tank at idle on the starter box and then a further three tanks taking it slowly before getting bored of doing that and started tuning.
The ball diffs needed some attention during the break in too, they’re factory assembled but not tightened. You do get supplementary instructions for doing this job, it only takes a few minutes and once you’ve read the simple steps of how it’s done you’ll be rewarded with diffs that give a better performance and sustain a longer lifespan.

Run free young Bambi

Driving the NT18T on the road is quite a bit of fun, it has a wide stance and soft grip tyres so handles extremely well and when the engine is in full flow, it doesn’t half shift! Match these characteristics with a very responsive steering and strong brakes that are getting 6V of juice to them instead of 4.8V and we see cat like reactions and massive skids whenever wanted. It still seems strange for me to be driving a mini truck that makes so much noise, but I can drive it longer than your average battery pack would last on an electric version by simply re-fuelling, which is nice.
Taking the little Xray nitro off-road is very different, it hasn’t got a huge amount of ground clearance and there’s only so much the suspension can do, with bumps, stones or other obstacles in the way it does have a habit of changing direction on a whim, which can keep you on your toes. On a flat field of short grass is more where this kiddie will be happy playing and we even got a wheelie or two out of this one.

Overall

In all honesty I think I prefer my nitro engines to be a bit bigger, but I’ve still enjoyed having gotten to know the NT18T. The construction was straight forward, simple and pleasing just like every other Xray kit because of the high standards they set themselves and they’ve a certain reputation for dealing in pukka gear to uphold. So the NT18T doesn’t disappoint but I think it might have been wiser to have picked the monster truck version of this chassis base to give it an extra bit of ground clearance to enable a better off-road performance and raise the fun factor. My eight year old daughter Saphron is a top mini truck pilot with her own stable of trucks and certainly gives it her seal of approval although she’s yet to get the hang of a mini truck that doesn’t reverse, Dad is on the case though and teaching her so we can get the most out of Xray’s luxury offering. Thus proving that this novelty could well have some longevity in it.

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