LOL They are plastic dude (I had one), they are just a strong type that does not flex easily. I've never seen a buggy (including the ebay cheapies) that does not have them.

dont forget this is for bashing and non-event racing. basically i will buy the hyper 8 rtr since it will be better for bashing since it has a bigger fuel tank, is lighter so it does better jumps, the shock system is different and thus better which what was i read somewhere and also the hyper 8 rtr is just a better and stronger piece of buggy.

either buggy i get i may sell off its AM radio gear and buy a FM receiver to use with my 3PK, well if i ever get the 3PK back from the servicer! i hope it doesnt get lost in transit or i will be really really really pissed off.

for bashing i want strength and speed so if when i bash something breaks i'll just upgrade that part. i mean with the hyper 8 pro kit i dont want carbon fibre bits for bashing cause if you break them it just costs more to replace!

after further inspection of the hyper 7 rtr they are plastic and the same colour of the chassis, my bad.

i am definately getting the hyper 8 rtr from my lhs.

It comes with:

Hyper 8 RTR version 1/8 buggy
Decent radio system
Batteries for radio and receiver pack
Full starter kit including fuel bottle, wrench, glow plug heater, glow plug heater battery, tuning screw driver and some other tools
Full bottle of fuel for running in process
And a final in-shop pro engine tune up done by a Nationals 3rd winning nitro racer who lost due to buggy, not engine problems.

All for $780 AUD which is like $575 US

also you get lots of free advice, tips, help and discounted parts. also when u buy a failsafe with the buggy, the failsafe is further discounted and put into the buggy for you.

thing i like about hyper 8 rtr is that it comes with a metal gear servo for steering, not a crappy plastic gear servo that the hyper 7 rtr comes with

What radio does it come with?

It's a rebranded Futaba system.

I'm in the process of producing a carbon chassis for my hyper 7. if it works out, would anyone be interested in buying one?

For what its worth I have Hyper7 TQ Sport, and it does very well. I had both the Hyper8 and Hyper7 TQ in my hands at my LHS when I was going to buy one and went with the TQ. The price difference was a pretty large gap, and I didn't feel that the price gap would make me that much difference in laptimes. Long story shorter, I have broken some parts which ended up in some DNF's. Even still, I don't think I would have had any less with the Hyper8 to be perfectly honest. Since I replaced what seemed to be some minor weak links. IMO the TQ does very well around the track even with the stock MS .28. I'm looking at the two buggies based on entry level weekend racing. Even still, the other week my little TQ held off an 8eight for a Heat 2 win.

So to sum it up, until you reach the big time equipment means a lot less than most think, it all boils down to how you can drive it. Well, thats at my low level anyways.

Pictures of the first chassis are now in my pictures folder. The chassis is work in progress, its a 1mm thicker than the standard hyper 7 chassis but weights in at 211 grams, standard is 319 grams.