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Radar signature was one area of outperformance, the official says, declining to elaborate.
The IHI XF5 engines also did better than expected under the adverse conditions of high angles of attack.

The X-2 was designed mainly to demonstrate stealth, high agility and low-speed handling.
It has thrust-vectoring engine nozzles.

At the maximum angle of attack, challenging the XF5s with turbulent airflow,
the engines showed no sign of surging, says the official.
Their thrust was a little higher than expected. In other conditions,
they produced much more thrust than expected.

The maximum angle of attack achieved by the X-2 is not disclosed,
but the official says it was almost as high as the 70 deg.
demonstrated by the U.S.-German X-31 experimental aircraft in 1992.
An aircraft flying at such an angle of attack will rapidly lose kinetic energy,
possibly putting it at a disadvantage against an opponent,
but a pilot could use the extreme maneuver to dodge a missile or perhaps to break the track of a radar using Doppler techniques.

Maximum speed achieved in X-2 testing was Mach 0.8 at 6,000 m (20,000 ft.).
The official declined to divulge the minimum speed. The X-2 was at first called the ATD-X.