I have been out of RC Cars now for about 15 years. A friend of mine got a 3.3 Revo and I decided to pull the old RC10 out of the box. After playing with it for a while, I decided that I wanted to try Nitro 1/8 scale. I am not a super newbie, but I am not a pro skilled driver either. I was looking at the Losi 8 or the XRay XB808. Either way I go, it looks like they are both good quality Kits.

I guess my questions are:

1. Both list a .21 engine are required - but can you do a .28 as well? I was looking at the GRP 2.1 or 2.8 with pipe.

2. Both seem to have their own set of specific issues. Which one would be easier for someone coming back into the game?

3. Outside of the routine maintenance that off roaders require, is there anything else that I need to be aware of from an Electric background?

Thanks for the answers in advance, I am sure that they are redundant in some aspects.

the eight is a great buggy and parts are plentiful and cheap. the xray is also a great car but parts can be a little hard to find sometimes. atleast around here

If you want quality, X ray is the only way to go. The kits go together super smooth, and the quality is amazing. The new 808 buggy is also very good handling and durable. it just came out a month or so back, so it's really new and innovative. The losi is also a good buggy because it's innovative and set the bar for the new buggies. It's very popular and parts are probably everywhere. Only thing is is that it isn't the quality of the X ray, and not quite that durable. You can find them for cheaper than the X ray though.

what about the RC8?

i race my losi 8ight and i love it,

i just was at the track saturday practicing before a race and a fellow racer had a losi 8ight but didnt have a failsafe installed and his reciever came unplugged so he said. and it shot across the track jumped the track and flew a good 50 ft and landed then went straight into a curb bounced back went back to the curb climbed it, hit a wall turned around and went across the road again hit another curb bounced up on the curb and then into a trash can. After all this all he broke was a shock cap and that broke from gettin sliced off by the bottom of the garbage can, his engine was WOT the whole time and it still started and ran after fixin his shock and reciever. if thats not durable show me what is

I don't have experience with either of the two cars you suggested (they are both very popular though), however, with regards to your engine question; you will need to put your own engine in it (and probably all the electronics, etc). As for the size, today's .21 engines probably have more power than you'll ever need in most race situations. In addition, .28 size engines are not sanctioned in most organized race meetings / competitions.

It depends on what you want to do with the car. Race or Bash? Bashing.... a .28 is fine, but then again, i personally wouldn't shell out that kind of money on the cars you've mentioned just to go bashing with. There's plenty of other very good (and less expensive) bashing buggies out there.

Don't forget a couple drops of after-run oil after each time out with the car.

Welcome back to the addiction.

I had looked the RC8 some but had really focused on those two buggies. I need to investigate that one more.

Thanks for the welcome back

Definitely want to race with it. I see that the RTR comes with a .27 engine included - that is why I was asking about the .28 sizes. But most all the reviews that I find all show the .21 engines.

Someone had an OFNA setup with starter box that he was offering for $250 that I might get to bash around with and get the feel for the nitro power over the electric and bash around with.

well i really liked the losi 8ight intell i went to the track saturday and saw the rc8 up close and run in person

What did you like about it versus the 8ight?

The RTR's are misleading with the over .21 engines. They may perform fine, but nothing larger than .21's are legal for racing. There may be exceptions at local events. The larger engines are not really at all necessary, but they market well. A good .21 is all a driver needs, and they are plenty fast.