i am looking into buying my first buggy and decided to get a rc8be but i have some questions as far as motor, gearing, and battery setup. i plan on purchasing the tekin rx8 esc with the t8 motor but i am not sure which kv to get or the gearing to use with it. as far as battery questions go i just want to know if 4s is enough and what mah should i look to get. thanks to everyone for your help

4s is plenty and is the max if u r going to race. I use HK nano 5k batteries. I get 16 to 20 min on 2200 motor MM system with 46 spur 18 pinion. 30min to 35min with 1800 motor 19 pinion. Just keep in mind the bigger the battery the more weight but the longer your run times. So get what is more important to you or your track.

Tekin T8 1900kv, 4S 5000mah 30C Lipos, Geared: (48/19)

+1

Check my signature. It's a very good set up based on ALL of the research I have conducted over a 3 month time.

The grid mounts look great and all this talk about them make me really want to get one. Undoubtedly the AE motor mount is not a great design since it makes adjusting mesh or removing the motor a difficult task but rarely do I ever do either of these things. Once my mesh is set I don't need to adjust it. I've never had my motor move on me during racing throwing off my mesh and if I need to remove my motor for cleaning then I'm also pulling the center diff so the different mount wouldn't apply there either. At $75ish with shipping it's not a cheap upgrade. My question is why everyone who's upgraded felt it was necessary? Do you guys find your motors moving throwing off mesh? Do you loctite your motors in?

Btw since were sharing biographies I'm 34 and ONLY a racer! Although I just picked up an SC8e so I can play in the street with my 4 yr old son and his slash since thats no place for an RC8Be!! Ive also been dying to take an RC car to a skatepark and I figure none better for the task than the SC8e!

One last thing.......when you guys figure out when Gregg sleeps lemme know! I think he even wakes up when he does sleep to post some more! You gotta love the dedication, RC for ever!!!!

Between myself and 3 others at the tracks we run, there has been issues with the stock motor mount letting the motor move. It usually happens on tracks with big jumps. I stripped a few spurs and have seen others do the same. With the Grid mount it has been a "set it and forget it" type of thing. It also makes gearing changes a 2 minute drill....It takes me longer to decide which gear to run than installing it and setting the mesh.

I posted this on the ve8 thread and got some answers. I thought it would be good to get the opinions of the rc8be peeps too. thanks:

I searched this forum for a long time because I bet thought this questions would be asked by a lot of newbies like me, but i guess not. Anyway here it goes. For people who have both or might hve one of them and know a lot about the other one: What do you think is good buggy for someone like me who already needs to buy a 1/8 motor ( not a esc for I have a mmp), a servo that's good, and ofcourse the kit.

I'm looking at the ve8 because on rctech i have heard good things about it. I have heard some bad things about it though. Like the plastic chassis and if you want a better chassis you have to pay 130 dollars for a HHH or tekno and even then you have to pay for a few other parts to make it fit!

Also the other rc buggy i was looking at was the rc8be. It has a nice chassis and everything. It costs a bit more. The rc8be is the most expencive I will go because I don't want to spend a billion dollars like I said before. One thing I don't like about the rc8be is the price, but do like the fact that it is associated who makes good crap. Also, The parts are everywhere not only for associated but for the rc8be.

If anyone has any input on what servos or motors also that would be great. thanks

Thanks to anyone who posts anything.

I got the Elite only so that I can change pinions easier. It is hard to get an allen on the stock one. I only race so when I go from a large track to a small one pinions should be changed. By the way when I first put it in the motor first got loose then the motor mount got loose on me. I had to tighten them down really good, and yes I always use loctite. So if you get these mounts beware make sure they are real tight.

I don't think there is 1 best car. There is 1 car that is going to be best for your driving style and that isn't always easy to figure out. That being said the RC8Be kicks ass! I would imagine anyone who posts on this thread will have similar opinions. 1/8 scale is definitely not an inexpensive class to break into. You might want to look into a good used roller or even a used RTR, there are some good deals to be had right here on rctech.
As far as electronics recommendations I've never used anything but Tekin in both my 1/10 scale and 1/8 scale stuff and its the best of the best but again, not cheap. For a servo you'll want something with at least 200 oz of torque or you'll most likely be buying a servo a 2nd time which will cost you more in the long run.
If you find what youre looking for you're gonna have a blast!! Ive been racing for a while and nothing is as fun for me as 1/8 scale electric!!

Hey thanks I guess wasn't really asking what one is the #1 best because I know how annoying that is when people ask that. thank you though very much for your input.

I had a castle, I liked it. But the Tekin was smoother and after this past weekend I won't go back. But I am talking about 1/10th scale and my new buggy. Sorry for the confusion.

Check the paint thread. I recommend Jim from WedJim. Winning edge designs. But you'll wait a month for a shell and just about all custom ones from anyone are $60-$100. You could look at upgraderc for a sticker kit. There are many more of these around too. Different companies.

I listened to a guy tell me he smoked 5 RX8s and I still bought one. I think they both have their faults. I see Castle as all out brute power and I see Tekin as precision machinery.

Agreed I haven't raced much in the past. I bought my first Nitro in 2004 and I mainly bashed. It sat on the shelf and I eventually bought another one because I thought it was the buggy I didn't like. Well I did it again with my RC8be. And thrashed up and down the street and thought to myself, why did I buy this? Then I went to the track. And I'm hooked. This is what I've been looking for out of this hobby.

I'll be 36 in about 3 weeks.

I sleep at night. But I find myself waking up in the middle of the night and grabbing my phone to reply to this post. Someone always has a question. And if I know it, or I know where to find it. I have to reply.

I have 1 8 year old. Lives with his mom in Florida.

I'm trying to build this kit in-between work class and FaceTime. It's not working out in my favor.

I do but only about 4-5 hours a night. And that's not straight.

I agree with Tyler here below. But 35C. More lile 45-60C though. But Tekin 1900 for the track. And 4S all the way. There are a ton of servos to choose from. 200oz/in is a good start.

I'm geared 21/46 and I like it.

The first time it gives out though, you'll wish it hadn't. Especially in the middle of an AMain.
This buggy was on my list before I snagged my kit I have now. I don't know much about that kit and I can tell you that most of the kits people choose, they have their own reasons. I chose mine because it has a good racing history and AE builds solid cars. And it's their newest EP buggy. And its been explained on here at least a dozen times. Get it from Tower Hobbies with the super saver club discount. I got mine for $339 shipped after the coupon. And you can select easy pay and pay $100+ a month over a 3 month window. That can't be beat. Whatever you decide we will be here to answer your questions, no only are you buying a world class buggy. You are getting as much support as we can give you right here. We have some new people just learning and we have some seasoned professionals. If we don't know the answer, we'll get it for you.

That was a lot to respond too with a cell phone.

Seriously bad day today. Got my replacement hinge pins delivered. Sorted out the back then went through the AE vids and set the car up spot on. Used the setup sheets for the hotwire and change the voltage......to 4.265!!! Thought it was per cell rather than overall but judging by the bang the esc made after about 1 min of being on and a second after 1/3/5 lit up i reckon maybe it should have been 12.8? Big lesson learned the hard way and a new pair of pants required. What a pop! So much for taking it out today. Didn't even get it out of the back room.

I'm not sure what time zone you guys are in, but I know Gregg is on the west coast. I'm in the central time zone, so I usually hit the sack before you guys. I get up at 5am, so I'm usually in bed by 10pm, except on weekends.

I'm just a year older than you Gregg.

I had Larry @ Kustom RC Graphics do the shell I posted earlier in the thread. Great work, and I might have him do another for me since I was so happy with the first one. http://www.rctech.net/forum/painting...phics-com.html

I would do a single color paint job on your stock body, though. A custom one is too expensive to run all the time, IMO. I'm going to try doing a 3 color paint job on this spare body I have, but I'm really not good at painting!

I agree, but I never noticed cogging issues with my MMP in the RC10B4 like I did with the MMM in the RC8Be. If it weren't for the cogging, I would have likely kept the MMM. However, I'm VERY happy with the Tekin.

This is what I'm looking for. I would like another (cheaper) hobby that is still involved in racing of some sort. Plus, I really enjoy tinkering and working on stuff.

However, I haven't been racing (full scale) in a couple of years, and I'm hoping to run a mostly full season this year. I have a race coming up in a few weeks, and I have a ton of work to do on my race car. My RC8Be will likely not get as much attention until late March, but I'm still planning to go out to a local hobby shop with a track to do a little practice during the week.

If you guys want an adrenaline rush, take your car out to an autocross or lapping day.

I've been very happy with a Savox (and Gregg knows ), and it's a bit less than 200 oz*in of torque, so don't make 200 an absolute requirement.

Me too. On 4S with a 2050kV Tekin T8, it's fast; very fast. On 6S it's crazy!

Was the battery fully charged? If so, the cutoff wasn't the issue. You can run a LiPo with the cutoff turned off, if you're so inclined, and it shouldn't affect the ESC at all. Exactly what happened?

One last thing, I chose the RC8Be because I noticed that most of the 1/8 scale e-buggies have very similar layouts. I have owned a few Associated cars in the past (I actually had a gold pan RC10 with the 6 gear transmission back when I was a kid!), and I've always been pretty happy with them. Plus, I know parts are plentiful. From what I saw on the internet, the RC8Be was a solid car. Getting it for a great deal at Tower, plus EasyPay made the decision a no-brainer.

I've already thought about a second car...I'd be really interested in checking out the Durango DEX-408 when it gets released.

My RC8Be is definitely going to see the street more than it see's the track. I may take it out there a few times, but I'd much rather run my RC8Te on the track.

thats going to ballisic