Well I cant speak for the Mugen, but I love the Tekno NB48. It will for sure help you cheer up. The quality and build is the most fun I had building any brand. Just my Opinion.

You don't have to have the TKR5013C LRC brace. But helps with locking down the rear end better. FYI their on backorder for a few weeks at least.

The TKR5145B washers are nice to have. They wont cup and wear in extreme conditions.

Good luck with your choice. These guys on the forum are great for info.

I've been on both teams and ran both cars. I won't lie to you. They are both great cars. I believe Tekno has better quality plastic and I'm not a fan of the pillow ball setup on the MBX. You will break arms on the Mugen where the Tekno won't. You do need the new washers for the NB48, but if I'm not mistaken they come in the kit. Don't quote me on that though. As FastPete said, the LRC plate is a great option, but isn't necessary.

Both cars handle great, but at the end of the day I think Tekno is the better company. They are local to the US, spend a lot of time on customer support, update things as needed, and seem to have spent more effort on design.

tnx fastpete! Yeah im gonna go tekno .im saving it for next season. It looks like it has a tremendous amount of droop / travel am i right. i appreciate ur help. Cant wait. I honestly think that Tekno should hire a top level driver.i think this car is leagues ahead of the competition and can easily bring home the hardware at the ifmar championship. ? Who is on the Team for the worlds this year? Does anyone have that info??

I have been truly amazed with the fit and finish of the Tekno kits! And strong as nails! I have hit stuff so hard that you would think that you would be collecting the car in multiple pieces, but the Tekno was always able to drive off! Any other car that I have owned in the past (Mugen, Losi, Durango, O'Donnell) would have been sidelined after hard crashes like that!

Tekno recently signed Joe Bornhorst, who has already been super fast with the EB48.2 and ET48 in his first race on the East coast this past weekend! Having Joe on the team will definitely help!

Tekno is not present at this year's worlds, but I can guarantee you that there will be a good representation at the 2016 Worlds!!

I'm in the same boat as you and i'm going with the mugen 7r. The tekno is a close 2nd to me so you should be fine either way. People talk about mugen braking arms but i'm here to tell you I run the 6r and the 6 eco, and I run them hard and crash alot and have never broke a arm.Its all about how much you tighten your lower shock screws. BTW my bday is October 20th also lol.

Cant go wrong with either buggy. The Mugen is obviously exceptionally capable of winning races and the new R is sure to continue it's winning ways. You'll likely find more support from locals with the Mugen as there are a ton of them out there since the last Worlds win. That can be very handy if you break a part and the local shop doesnt carry them. That being said, 1/8 buggies just dont break very often (I've never broken a part on any of mine over the last 5 years).

I did make a nasty mistake a couple weeks ago and thought for sure I'd broke a front arm or shock but the Tekno drove away just fine (clipped a pipe coming off a large jump at fairly high speed). It certainly is tough and I appreciated it since I was leading the main

Fit and finish on the Tekno is tough to beat and of all the various vehicles I've built the last 25 years, only Tamiya has been higher (most people say Kyosho has the best fit and finish but I've built a number and Tamiya has them beat). Xray is always a popular bandwagon for superior fit and finish as well and the Tekno has been every bit as nice as the Xray I had (admittedly, I've only built one "Luxury" kit however). The Tekno goes together very nicely. Assembly is pretty straight forward though the order in the manual could use a little work especially in the fuel tank and engine department as it complicates other procedures.

Maintenance has been pretty user friendly as well. The only thing that can be a bit of pain to get lined up for me has been removing the front bulkhead and then trying to position the front shaft for reassembly. Oh, a very small wrench is needed for adjusting the brake bias link if the radio tray is installed in the vehicle (my Losi wrench is way to wide and bulky to do so).

It has been an absolute pleasure to drive (especially with Mo's setup). Steering really is unbelievable and it will turn inside of anything out there, by a substantial amount even with the limiters installed).

On the dislikes side, I'm not a fan of the tank size. I like to keep fuel lines around 8" (especially on the exhaust side) but because of the smaller sized tank, Tekno wraps the fuel line around the entire tank 1.5 times (some like a lot of fuel line but I dont especially with clunks). I despise the factory bodies lines but that can be remedied pretty easily (seems to perform well however). My last and only "real" gripe with the buggy right now is the brakes. I havent been able to get them as smooth as I want yet. They have plenty of stopping power, it is just everything in between that I havent been able to get to my liking thus far.

All said and done, I am extremely happy with the Tekno. I am more comfortable driving it on the edge than I have been with the RC8.2 and 8ight 2.0 I had prior to this. I burn more fuel with this than the other two because I'm on the throttle more (never had trouble making 10m stops in the other 2 buggies but havent been able to even get 9m so far with the Tekno).

Edit: my fast lap was .8sec off Drake's fast lap the other night and I've never been that close to the pros before! That should say loads about the Tekno

So, finally i've installed new "new" tank, here is photo:


Clearance between clip and body is about 3-4mm (same as with kit tank on prev. photo), body is mounted w/o any tilts

I have the stock body, the FTW xb9 body and the new FTW reactor body and dont have that issue with any of them and you are the only I have heard about breaking the tank that way so I don't know that its a huge problem but something to note for sure.

You will be very happy with the NB48, the new shims do come in the kit as long as you buy direct from Tekno or from a distributor with fresh inventory, if its an old box sitting in a LHS it may not have them, in which case email tekno and they will take care of you guaranteed. You wont find better customer service than Thomas and Zac.

As for the LRC brace, not a necessity at all, I have them and don't run them every time, its just another tuning option not a necessity. The only thing you should buy is an aluminum servo horn, the only reason they aren't included is because it would add $60 cost to the kit to include all 3 spline types.

Regarding the brakes, I also spent a lot of time trying to get my brakes more progressive and have since done it but spending a morning solely focusing on the brake linkage and adding fuel tubing/springs etc... Point is, you can make them work to your liking either w stock parts or you can go mugen pads or some guys run the kyosho rotors and pads, all preference.

Are you sure that the tank posts are sitting in the cutouts on the chassis? Are you sure you are not using truggy posts?

i run both a tekno and mbx7eco usually back to back on the same race day. (i know the eco is *slightly* different in feel to the nitro) so in honesty the biggest difference has been that the Tekno needed much more set up time and fiddling than the Mugen to drive at a similar pace. The only thing i have changed from stock setup on the prebuilt Mugen is the rear anti rollbar.

mugen has good steering, Tekno has more
Tekno has looser tail end
Tekno has fastest acceleration of any nitro buggy ive ever seen (when it hooks up)
Tekno can be too twitchy or loose if incorrect set up for track is used, Mugen feels easier to drive
Mugen needed very little "set up" to be as quick, on my track anyway
Quality and durability is great on both
Tekno is something different, everyone around here runs Mugen
pretty happy to run either honestly

Small wrold.i had and MBX6 When I saw Reno Savoya take 3rd at the 08 worlds. Never had an issue with it and was easy to drive.ive had the AGAMA, too . But I think I'm going tekno..I really like all that suspension travel.and the way it soaks up the bumps and lands jumps like a marshmallows

Not a big deal but you could do the aluminum horn a lot cheaper if you used inserts like the Losi setup

That being said, I always purchase aluminum horns when I grab the kit. I just wish the Racers Edge clamp on horns were compatible.

thanks ! Damn you guys are already so supportive. I'm overwhelmed by the reply and feed back .Thank you. The only thing I didn't like about the mugen was getting the pivot ball tight enough to run smooth but always had a little play I had to keep an eye on it .I race in RC MADNESS in CT. AND RC EXCITEMENT in FITCHBURG MASS. I never made the Amain , I came close on the last day I raced but unfortunately my best friend who was my pit man committed suicide right after I spoke to him and we had a big race on that Sunday. I went after the funeral. I tried my best but without him there I only made the b main and it left a void .so I stopped racing for a while.a year later I bought the Agama A8. I was the only guy with an AGAMA from mass to CT. It was so fast I loved it . Then my wife left me and I lost the passion to do what I loved best. I'm just getting back to my normal self and I deserve to do what makes me happy and is such an enjoyable hobby.im glad u guys are so cool . I want to be on the tekno team .I like how u guys role... I'll keep an eye on ur posts and hopefully by the 20th I can post up my new buggy when it arrives. I'm so excited I can barely wait lol.. Thank you again to all of u.!.GO TEKNO!

Thanks so much for the detailed information my new friend. I'm definitely going with the NB48 .guess I'll post up a pic when I receive the box and when fully built.. I like engines that have long legs.. Top speed is very important to me. What engine have u seen that has good fuel consumption and the power band can keep it going on 2000ft plus straight? I'm thinking a 7 port .like the Reds or a Novarossi.any suggestions?