Dave H. - It wasn't the motor heat I was worried about so much as lack of air-flow, or generally wrong servo setups that were causing the added heat. I did find it really ironic (and funny) that the two Losi team drivers at the track today had the hottest servos. Oops!
It was brought to my attention today that many 8IGHTs seem to have so much EPA that the radio tray is flexing. Badly. Make sure your car can get full brake without THAT much EPA and that should reduce a lot of servo strain.
Steve - Ahh....I blew it, haha. I have no idea how hot the ambient temperature was. Most were in shorts and t-shirts but it wasn't hot by any means. Probably somewhere in the 70's-80's?
Two-speed - It wasn't an agnostic post by any means, just mis-informed and ill-intended. Every new car has issues. This car is different than the other buggies on the market. It has to be driven and adjusted differently, it assembles differently, and rightfully so. The clutch wear issues have been addressed and can be remedied. Shock shafts should no longer be an issue. Losi is aware of these crazy throttle servo failures and trust me...we're working on it. Is there anything else you'd like us to work on? Name a legitimate concern and it can be fixed.
Don't get me wrong, there are other great cars on the market, the Kyosho buggy included. If you end up with another car, best of luck.
When Kyosho released the SP1, most racers actually reported going slower until they got the car figured out. (And that car ended up National Champion.) It seems rather the opposite for the 8IGHT, "issues" and all.