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Review of the Ansmann Racing X8 / Part 3

Review of the Ansmann Racing X8

Part 1: Basics
Part 2: Building the buggy

Part 3: On the track
Part 4: Roundup

3. On the track

Arriving at the test area, it became obvious that there was a hard job waiting for the X8 as the track was really worn out. Some of the holes were even deep enough to hide the complete buggy inside of them. The racing line was completely covered by sand and dust which put the average traction on a quite low level. No easy conditions for our challenger. It was a logical consequence to increase the ground clearance significantly, but then the buggy was ready to go.

During the first laps, we noticed that especially the center differential didn’t work as smooth as it should. Under acceleration, the rear of the buggy seemed to become pretty loose as it broke out rapidly in several situations. In contrast to that, the suspension proved its qualities right from the beginning as the X8 passed even roughest sections with ease. After about one hour of racing, the handling of the buggy improved noticeable, especially in narrow corners. Obviously, it took some time for the internals of the differentials to settle completely. After that, they operated fine.

During air time, the X8 showed a pretty neutral handling with slight tendencies to lower the front side. The aggressive attitude of the rear disappeared more and more, the lap times got faster and faster and after one more hour of testing, we were done. The final checks offered no negative surprises as the wear of all the rotating parts was on a minimum level.

4. Roundup

The X8 proved that his quality is far beyond Ansmann’s cars of the entry-class. It is a fast and solid competition buggy right out of the box. Before you do some setup jobs to the drivetrain, make sure that the internals of the differentials have settled completely. I can’t understand why Ansmann decided for a lower rear suspension mount from cheap nylon at the front axle and recommend to replace it with a solid part from aluminum, but besides that, there is nothing left to do before you race the buggy even on top level.

After testing the X8, I have to apologize for my prejudices which I mentioned at the beginning of this review. They were definitely not based upon a general refusal of Ansmann’s product line, but in the past, this manufacturer put most of his effort into cars of the lower price-class. As we can see now, they also got the abilities to create real competitive R/C-cars and I must admit that the X8 is one of the best buggys I ever reviewed.

Ansmann X8
1/8-scale nitro offroad buggy kit

Dimensions
Length: 490 mm
Width: 305 mm
Wheelbase: 323-327 mm
Weight : 3320 g

Oils
Differentials (f/m/r): 5000/5000/2000
Shocks (f/r): 450cps/450cps

 

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