Here is a nice comment about XB8 from user in Philippines posted on
http://www.teamxray.com/xforum
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First of all Kudos to XRAY, it's a fine piece of equipment.
I did get one of the first kits so I did get a small hiccup which XRAY promptly offered to rectify.
I won't delve into the quality of the kit as this is already a well known fact to most afficionados.
Now my 2 cents,
As to driving experience, what I can say that it's more forgiving than my previous buggy (777 SP1). The 777 is a very maneuverable buggy, Moreso than anything else I've driven.
That said, it (the 777 as well as most K-cars) also wears out much faster. In just over 9 gallons, most of the drivetrain parts have shown significant wear that needs to be replaced in order to get it back to truly competative shape.
I have to replace almost all the drivetrain parts save for the gears in the Final TCD. All the metal toe-in blocks have a lot of slop. All the diffs are leaking, all the universal swing shafts are bent and the outdrives are so loose that I can almost tell from the way it lands wrong that I'm gonna pop a dogbone.
So far the XB8 is so light compared to anything else that I've been able to take the basic setup I used from the 777 and still came out better. I no longer needed to put so much preload on the shocks to prevent the chassis from bottoming out (which was the norm on the 777). I also honestly believe that the conical shock pistons work extremely well for my needs as I set them to increase dampening when the shock is compressed. I've been able to set my ride height lower (which minimizes chassis roll in sweepers) while allowing me to jump triples and still have the car land with no chassis slap.
Also, repairing the car during the midst of a race day doesn't have to be a loathsome job anymore. It's bad enough the car is dirty and so is your worktable, but to only use the basic tools to replace a broken arm or change a setting inspires confidence. Changing setups mid-race is a big no-no on a K-car because there's just too many things to take out that you might forget. It's almost unheard off for a typical K owner to change caster between heats. In the XB8, it takes less than a minute due to the ingenious metal inserts.
I was a little hesistant to switch from the 777 since I know it's still one of the winningest kits out there (alongside Mugen), but after running the the XB8 the decision was made easier.
To the fence sitters....
The XB8's performance will feel more like a Mugen. But steers nearly like a 777. But you must realize that it's NOT priced like a Mugen Prospec or a 777 (at least in our neck of the woods).
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