MegaBaja

Ok, so I have a bone stock Losi 8ight rtr sitting on my work bench, and I want to race ready it for the summer. It needs to meet the following requirements:

1/8th SCALE BUGGY
Chassis: 1/8 4wd Buggy
Engine: .15 - .32
Tires: Any 1/8 Buggy wheel & tire

As of now I have money for a O.S. .21 v-spec, is this the best engine for the requirements? I also have a full range of JP pipes available to me, recomend one please.

Finaly, I have 400$ left, recomend upgrades (wheels, ect)

Kawasakirider

Starter box. Nice high torque servo with some decent speed for steering, something pretty quick on throttle/brake. Run the tires that seem to hook up on your track, see what the locals are running. Experiment with set up, ask how the other 8ight owners are setting up their rigs and with some of your cash, mimic their set up and fine tune it to your liking.

Starter box
Servo's
Batts.

SETUP:
Springs
Oil (diffs and shocks)

See what the local guys are breaking and invest in the upgraded part for that, don't install it, just wait till the original parts brake.

Also, practice, practice, practice.

Kawasakirider

You could buy something cheap for steering to start off with, a Hitec 5645 and then you could move the Z590 in the steering now to the throttle/brake and keep the 270 as a spare.

MegaBaja

Will a tiger drive spin starter work in place of the bump box?

http://www.sullivanproducts.com/tigerdrivecontent.htm

If so, which model?

Kawasakirider

What's the point of swapping the spin start for a tiger drive? The point of a starter box is to remove the one way bearing, therefore less problems with the engine with the OWB catching.

Streakykel

And reduce air leaks.

Dale Gribble

My Feedback: (4)

v-spec is great, I would roll that plant no problem.

I would definitely get a few sets of wheels/tires- blocks (Panther Komodo Dragon), pins (Panther Gators) and an intermediate block (Panther Komodo Dragon 2) should have you covered. I would recommend the medium-soft compound for all around use. I recommend Panthers because you can find them pretty cheap and they are good tires. Panther sells their dish wheels in a 12 pack (3 sets) for ~$40. Tires are around $20/pr x 6 pairs, so that is $160 for wheels/tires, a few more bucks for glue.

The Z590M steering servo is a good servo, don't get me wrong, but get a JR Z650M to really throw those tires around. Get a Z650M (about 2x the torque of the Z590M), and move the Z590M to throttle detail. That is about $60 for a Z650M.

Get 3 sets of different rate springs (soft, med, firm). At $7/pr x 6 pairs (2 pairs = front/rear), that $42.

The stock clutch bell is 13T. I would get 12T and 14T clutch bells. The 12T will give you more power up front for the holeshot and a 14T will give more top speed for a longer track. Clutch bells run ~$16/ea, so that $32.

Get replacement parts- front upper/lower arms, rear lower arms, wing, wing mounts, clutch shoes. Stuff breaks at the track. Those are the most common parts. Say $50 for that stuff.

Get an assortment of diff tuning fluids and shock fluids. Those run about ~$3/ea. 3 bottles shock fluid and 4 diff tuning fluids will run $21.

Get a starter box if you don't have one.

That will get you up to $400 right there easily, but it will get you great tuning ability which is a key for winning races.

MegaBaja

Thanks for your input, but what would I do to get that tuning ability?

Kawasakirider

Run at the track, tear the buggy down, try new set ups. You will pick it up very quickly.

911

lol, get the springs tires and various oil weights.
i will add that you should look into clutch springs and shoes as well.

Streakykel

and if your going to get spare clutch parts then you'll want bearings too.