You should look at www.shengines.com SH Engines are what Redcat already use. Losi also has used them, and you can buy one on Ebay for about $80 USD. SH P28 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SH-28-RC-Nitr...item519662854f

I have used a few, and they are AWESOME value for money. The particular one there on ebay is a SH.28-P6 very very strong internals and really perform well. With only minor modifications Porting and crank timingetc which is also heaps of fun), these will rip up hard, and at that price, you can afford to buy a few to experiment with...( thats what I did XD ). This particular engine is used by NANDA Racing and also Exceed MADBEAST, as well as Redcat and Seben racing. This engine will give a HPI 4.6 a run for its money in stock form.

The MGT 8.0 is a torque monster, but its been timed that way, and there's heaps you can do to get it much much better. Everyone talks about smaller engines being better, but thats only because more time andattentionhas been invested in those classes of engines as larger classes of vehicles have only properly started to enter the race scene in the last few years. But really, the larger engines (.28) are starting to get up there in a huge way.At the end of the day, ittotally depends on how the engine has been timed.

For value for money,If you wanted value, thengo with an SH engine, otherwise an Associated LRP .32 is a huge-ass ball-tearer. They are similar price to any performance engineincluding the 8.0. I'd totallygo for the LRP .32 if it were me. If you wanted a "Tractor / Truck Semi" engine, then the 8.0 would be it. Dont forget though, you have to find out which gearbox youre using, which will determine where you want the rpm designto be, as you could endup with a slow vehicle.