advise on a new buggy (kit form) for racing

[stephenmx50]

As title says im after a new 1/8th buggy (kit form not RTR) for racing,

Do any of you racers have any recomendations....?

I was thinking of either....

* RC8

* Hyper 8.5 pro

* Lossi 8

price not a major issue (not silly money though)!!

I mainly want something that will handle well (obvouisly setup will affect this i know, but a good starting point at least)

Why im on the racing subject, any idea for an engine, i was thinking Rb, Os?? around the

[Bennyboy]

I've recently bought an RC8 and i'm astounded by the handling straight from the box! The factory team worked very head to find a good general setup as it comes built! Obviously its fully adjustable so you can taylor it to your driving style! All the facotry drivers post thier set up sheets on CML website and there is a forum on the AE website dedicated solely to the RC8, drivers from all over the globe including factory drivers use the forum to discuss setups, mods ect! Its an excellent resource and has helped me loads! I've found parts to be readily available and no more expensive than any other buggy on the market!

As for engines around the

[Mr Terminator]

Xray X8B is another option,most go for the Losi but from what i've read on here and other places,they wear out quicker than the others,how true that is I dont know but i'd go for the Xray if I was going to race competetive oor something different altogether like a GS CL1.Bennyboy is spot on about the Mamba too,they are one top engine for the money....

[stephenmx50]

I've recently bought an RC8 and i'm astounded by the handling straight from the box! The factory team worked very head to find a good general setup as it comes built! Obviously its fully adjustable so you can taylor it to your driving style! All the facotry drivers post thier set up sheets on CML website and there is a forum on the AE website dedicated solely to the RC8, drivers from all over the globe including factory drivers use the forum to discuss setups, mods ect! Its an excellent resource and has helped me loads! I've found parts to be readily available and no more expensive than any other buggy on the market!

As for engines around the

[stephenmx50]

Xray X8B is another option,most go for the Losi but from what i've read on here and other places,they wear out quicker than the others,how true that is I dont know but i'd go for the Xray if I was going to race competetive oor something different altogether like a GS CL1.Bennyboy is spot on about the Mamba too,they are one top engine for the money....

Thanks Mr T, are all parts available easily for the Xray? if there one thing in life i hate its buying something and not being able to get parts for them when they break.

[Mr Terminator]

I think the parts are easily available but from where,I dont know.Others seem to get Xray parts well enough but someone will clarify that and will know who stocks them....

[Bennyboy]

To be honest mate its not even compariable (if thats a word) with the Hyper 7, its about a Kg lighter than a hyper and you really feel this round the track! I jumps really well and settles down nice too! there are various mods that the facotry lads are doing to improve the handling but they are all mods that other drivers can do at little cost! I am a big fan of the hyper 8.5 too and there's no doubting thier popularity but with the hyper 9's arrival imminent i dont know whether i'd buy one now, i think the thing is with all top level buggys your gonna get excellent handling ect its more down to personal preference and have a look what parts your LHS stock maybe!

It's a tough but fun choice you have to make there and dont think you'll be dissapointed whatever you choose.

[Hyperhuggy]

CL1 is flawed. Wouldn't go with that at all.

[B-Master]

Hi mate i have been fortunate to have drove most prospec buggys on the track i can only offer advice from my experaince but rember everyones driving style is diffrent so diffrent cars suit diffrent people .. here goes

Xray xb8 tq (ofcourse if looking at a new kit get the 808 when its released monday i think) my mate has asked me to build his 808 so i am looking foward to this as i love building xray's and losi's

i raced this car later half of last season and i was very impressed with the wear rate it only needed minour parts replacing such as cvd pins arms ect so over all it wasent to bad but the only issue i had with xray is the pirice on there spares is almost double most other manufactures and if you race you will keep a large amount fo spares so this made it very expensive. And the car does need a few hopups (i stuck with xray oneS which arn't cheep) parts upgraded were the rear and front knuckles over all the car handles very well my only niggle was on power out of courners it wasent as responsive as i wanted and also in the air it was very twichy and tended to pull to the right but suposed to be fixed on the 808.

RC8

i Bought this car for the winter season this year and i hated it i fouND it wore very fast the the quality of plastics compared to the xray/losi/hn well lets say you cant realy compare them the car felt extremly twichy in the air and down the stright some will say this is down to the user setup but no matter what i tried i couldent get it to drive to the style i liked. i had this car for only 2 months i just couldnet get on with it so off to ebay that went. but there are many people who have and are still doing very well with this car just didnt suit my driving style and none of my mates that race liked it either.

Losi 8 (current ride)

I have had this car now for about 6 months and there are a few issues with some minor parts wearing faster than i am happy with but the parts that wear fast are very cheep to replace such as the ankerman and the cvd pins and a few other smaller parts (hopups avalible for these week areas) the best thing about this car is how smooth it is on the track the car is also possibly the best ballanced car i have drove to date in the air (one of my fav points on this car) on power steering in/out of courners is very smooth and consistant and another big factor is the spares are very cheep compared to other kits on the market and are very strong. the car does need a few hopups out fo the box (but what car dosent) such as radio tray stiffner ect but over all its very nice and you will find many people at your local track running them so setups are easy to obtain.

Hyper 8/8.5

very simular issues wiht handeling as the RC8 really likes to pull to one side in the air but strong car not much rally to say about this it just felt boring to drive abit dull i dont knwo just dident feel fun if that makes sense :S but over all a nice kit i found i broke the front tower alot due to it pulling to one side it would rotate in the air which would then come down hard on the front right part of the tower i managed to get through a few of them and a few other parts that broke often.

Mugen mbx5r (mbx6 due for release soon)

this is another fav buggy of mine extrenly consistant in/out of courners both on/off power very well ballanced had a bit of a issue with hungry diffs i manged to eat a few of them but over all a stunning bit of kit i cant wait to see what they do with the MBX6 i am watching closely for that one i am a big mugen fan 1 problem (there always is) the spares can be hard to find these days as its classed as a "older buggy" but if you can get spares easy i woudl consider this or even the MBX6 when that is announced mugen tend to not make many/if any mistakes

well i went on a bit there but i hope its helpfull but honestly the best advice i can offer is go to your local track and see what most racers are using you will find there tends to be 1 buggy more popular to the others this is normaly because

a) there is good spares stock at the local model shop

there is 1 guy there thats amazing at setting them up and is willing to offer good advice

c) people sheep because if its popular there is a reason

as for engines i am curretly running OS Speeds in my cars thsi year and over all i am very happy with the smoothness and the power band its got awsome top end like the RB C6 but one thing i hated about the RB C6 was the fact it was all or nothing the OS speed is extrenly smooth. i am just running in the GRP 21 currenty i have heard very good reviews but i cant really coment form a persoanl experiance yet.

[Hyperhuggy]

but over all a nice kit i found i broke the front tower alot due to it pulling to one side

Never experienced or heard of that before. have watched loads at regional/nationals and never seen that

I think the Losi is more nimble , but I just don't find it as solid all round as the 8.5. To win a race you need to finish it

[B-Master]

Never experienced or heard of that before. have watched loads at regional/nationals and never seen that

I think the Losi is more nimble , but I just don't find it as solid all round as the 8.5. To win a race you need to finish it

see my experiance is totaly the opposite the losi is far stronger in my opinion than the hyper 8.5 and far more consistant around the track (note i neaver said this was my fav car just my current car) . i found i spent more money making my hyper 8 consistant than other cars i have owned and i wasent as confident running this car with out a HUGE bag of spares ( or spare car ) also the car needed setting up on a satation far more than other cars i have owned as things seamed to fall out of line fast . but hyperhuggy if you happy then thats what matters at the end of the day. as i said these are my experiances and opinions, and every one drives diffrent so diffrent cars suit diffrent people

[Hyperhuggy]

and every one drives diffrent so diffrent cars suit diffrent people

I think thats very true. I found the Losi too twitchy, but I was far more fluid with the 8.5. Horses for courses I guess

[B-Master]

i do agree with you the losi can be twichy (produces smoother lines = quicker lap times) in the wrong hands i race alot of touring cars also which are extremly twichy i think thats maybe why the losi works so well for the way i drive maybe this is the reason i find the hyper very boring to drive. i am also very anal with my car setups a perfect setup = a perfect race line i found the hyper lacked alot of setup features i wanted which alot of the other cars provided.

[stephenmx50]

Thanks for the advise guys!!

i was thinking of the RC8 but your not the first person to say they are of lower quality than some of the others...... any one else got an RC8 out there? would like to know a few more thoughts on this car....

As for engines i will check out the Os speeds, have you had any experience with RB Ws7? of Rossi Mamber?....?

[ipitythefool]

I was almost for getting an RC8 myself, was very tight call between that and the xray 808, recieved similar feedback on wear rate and parts quality as above but ended up with the 808 (will be getting on tue i hope!)

have a rossi mamba to slot into it as well (a

[stephenmx50]

I was almost for getting an RC8 myself, was very tight call between that and the xray 808, recieved similar feedback on wear rate and parts quality as above but ended up with the 808 (will be getting on tue i hope!)

have a rossi mamba to slot into it as well (a

[ipitythefool]

It's coming from Bolton Model Mart,