rezenclowd is absolutely correct, I have had multiple losi 8 buggies and multiple mbx5r's. BY FAR, the mugen parts quality is better and the buggy and truggy are far more bullet proof than the losi 8 and 8t. Bottom line, losi and associated, for that matter, do not have the quality in their products as they used to. look at the three company's lineups. losi and associated certainly have paid the best drivers to promote their chassis in the main stream of RC media. Mugen's quality is however better, its a fact face it.
As far as handling characteristics, the losi's turn alot sharper and are more on edge, however I have always found that I can put in equally fast, if not faster fast laps with the mugen as the losi in both buggy and truggy, and I've proven that with DATA, not subjectivity. I'm a six sigma black belt and I ran the statistics through minitab, I was more consistent and faster with mugen and i gave them both plenty of track time.
check out the article below, these are buggies, but remember all the top companies's truggy designs are based on their buggy R&D.
read this article, it is very telling and the way a true, non-biased, objective comparisson should be done.
http://www.rc-car.com/ME2/dirmod.asp...C42CA09BC6D9AD
here is the summary:
Scores:
losi-kyosho-mugen
Acceleration (10)- 9.7- 8 8
Braking (10) 9- 9.8 -8.8
On-power steering (5) 4.6- 4 -4.3
Off-power steering (5) 4.9- 4- 4
Jumping ability (5) 5- 4.5- 4
Jump/land stability (5) 3.8- 4.4- 4.6
Bumpy track performance (5) 4 -4.3 -4.9
Confidence factor (10) 6 -8.7- 9.5
Ease of maintenance (5) 3.5- 4.5 -4.9Durability (10) 10 -8 -9
Objective Scores
Average Lap Time (20) 18.3- 17.7 -20
Fastest Lap Time (10) 8.2- 9.4- 10
Total Score (100) 87- 87.3- 92
The scores in bold are the ones that I have found, personally, from experience, are the key factors that really set the mugen above the rest.
NOTE: the "durability" has to do with broken parts during the test period, not "wear." Read the article to see what actually happened and you will see that the period of time of the test was not long enough to make this measure even close to statisitcally valid, it is mere random chance and lack of sample size, e.g. lack of power level in the study design, to be statistically accurate.
Conclusion
We’d like to thank all of the companies who helped us put our shootout together. Kyosho America, Paul and Cody King, Sirio Engines, Mugen Seiki USA, Kris Moore, Team Losi, Travis Amezcua, JR Racing servos, Doug Summers at BODZ Custom Paintjobs,Werks Racing Fuel, Spektrum, Pro-Line bodies and tires, Jimmy Babcock of Hot Rod Hobbies for running our timed practice runs, and Richard at KZ Speedway in Sun Valley, California for track use. Ranking the three best 1/8 buggies is like ranking the three best sports cars in the world, or the three best episodes of South Park; there will never be a public consensus, and all three can win on any given day. We don’t expect everyone to agree with us, but after a full week of testing, nine gallons of fuel burned, dozens of sets of tires and countless track hours,
it’s our confident opinion that the Mugen MBX-5R is the best overall buggy on the market. o
Please stop pretending there are not wear issues or throttle servo issues with the losi, they have been VERY WELL documented. I've even emailed adam drake on his website asking him about the slop in the front end and other fast wear issues on the 8 and he did not deny it. do the same, go