the HB D8 is amazing. i couldnt believe it till i bought one. i almost bought a Mugen MBX6 because i drove alot of them and turned some amazingly fast laps with them too but in the end i went with the HB and im so glad i did. i bought one and never even drove one, i figured i was going to have to buy tons of spares and everything because i thought they broke alot and everything but man i was wrong, they are extremely durable. mine is box stock with the exception of the aluminum servo horn. paul (MadRussian) has seen my improvement once switching to HB, it was a huge improvement i think, but Paul might correct me on this
but anyways the main reason i love the HB is that they settle down extremely quick, my average lap is within a second of my fastest now, i hardly crash with it. with my D8T (i know your asking about the buggy but just throwing in the truggy info too) i can go a whole main without getting marshaled once. and with buggy i now only get marshaled maybe 1-3 times versus with other brands (including a few heat races i ran with the MBX6) i would get marshaled 4-6 times in a heat race, but with the D8 i wont get marshaled that much in a main. consistency is key, it its way easier to achieve consistency with the HotBodies.
just my 2 cents.