HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit

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HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
Price: $299.97
Discontinued Online
This item is discontinued and no longer available for purchase. You may want to search our site for a similar item.
Developed using proven world-championship technology, the Ve8 is the direct descendant of the 2008 IFMAR World Champion D8! Building off what we learned in 1/8 nitro racing, we have put together a laundry list of race proven technology and innovations making the Ve8 the most qualified, high performance buggy on the market today!

Features:

  • Proven World Champion winning suspension design used on the D8
  • Proven World Champion winning aluminum 16mm Big Bore shocks.
  • Proven World Champion winning drive train with 3 adjustable fluid differentials.
  • Molded composite chassis with replaceable front and rear skid plates
  • Accepts most current aftermarket ESC's and motors.
  • Aluminum motor mount easily adjust for the perfect gear mesh
  • Uses a 4.3:1 internal gear ratio with a 50T spur gear
  • Accommodates up to 140mm long LiPo batteries
  • Pinion ger choices from 12T to 26T for perfect gear ratio(12T-15T for Novak HV motors. 16T-26T for NEU or Castle motors.)
  • Buit-in personal transponder mount
  • Optional mechanical brakes for fine tuning brake bias
  • Servo mounts for steering and brake servos
  • Specific motor wire routing harness

Specifications:

  • Type: 4WD Off-road Buggie
  • Length: 500mm
  • Width: 305mm
  • Wheelbase: 329mm
  • Chassis: Molded carbon plastic
  • Drive Train: 4WD Shaft system
  • Kit/RTR: Kit
  • Shock Type: 16mm aluminum big bore
  • Is Assembly Required: Yes

Needed To Complete:

Motor, ESC, Reciever, Transmitter, 8-AA batteries, Stick pack Battery with charger, and Tires.

This product was added to our catalog on September 28, 2009

Vince
Monday, Oct 11 2010 (about 13 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
If you are going to buy this buggy, you will definitely want to read this review. I'll give it you straight with pros and cons. I've owned three different 1/8th scale buggies (RC8Be, 8ight-E, Ve8). This is my favorite one. It handles like a champ. It's more durable than I ever imagined. It's best feature, in my humble opinion, is how stable it is. It wont punish you for less than perfect driving. It's very planted and will give you good traction on any track surface. The stock setup works great and it's a terrific starting point. There are many upgrades available that can transform it into an elite racer. It's also the best jumper of the bunch. I was amazed how balanced it is in the air. The build went fine, aside from a few minor annoyances. The directions are fine, but it has no section on tuning like some other kits have. If you buy this buggy, there are a few highly recommended upgrades you should consider. You must get the aluminum skid plates. The stock ones wear out fast and can break pretty easily. The aluminum one's will greatly strengthen the chassis. You should also look at the HB one-piece motor mount. It moves the motor back away from the battery and strengthens the chassis. Look into getting the servo saver foam piece that comes with the Vorza. It will keep debri out of the Ve8 servo saver and prevent it from locking up. I would also highly recommend getting the HB aluminum servo arm. Strongest arm you get. Now, I must also point out that this car does have some flaws. Every car has them, and the Ve8 is no different. Like I mentioned above, the stock skid plates are weak. Don't even bother with them. The layout of the buggy leaves much to be desired. The motor sits alarmingly close to the battery tray. I would use an L-shaped piece of styrene to protect the battery. Use HB mod 1 pinions and always use Loctite. You don't want the pinion coming loose and boring into the lipo. Because of the motor positioning, you have to run it reversed. There are some motors out there that run slightly lower Kv when reversed, so take note of this. If you "flip" the diffs, you can run the motor in forward mode and not have to worry about it. The Ve8 comes with a big spur gear, 50T, and it's the only one available. That means you could be running some big pinions. The servo saver will lock up if debri gets in it. I think though that a newer unit has been put in place to correct this. It will have a foam piece on top. If it doesn't, I would recommend replacing the entire steering rack with the one for the Vorza. It's an inexpensive upgrade though. Keep an eye on the pins on the stock center couplers and check them periodically. They get crushed after a while and can snap clean under hard acceleration. While these cons can put some people off, they all become meaningless once you start driving this beast. When you have this thing setup right, it will be a beast on the track. If you want to really turn this machine into an elite racer, upgrade to the aftermarket HHH chassis.
Anonymous
Saturday, Nov 20 2010 (about 13 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
Awesome Car... get front/rear skids, I installed a Mamba Monster, 2650kv, Hitec7955, Futaba 4pks = WoW... This thing will jump any and everything... Super Soft tires this time of year work great... This car MOVEs all around the track... handles well around the corners and flat out flys down the straight away..... Buy it - you wont be disapointed... Happy Racing !
Anonymous
Saturday, Jun 12 2010 (about 13 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
Vince I think your 100% correct on everything you stated.

Get the aluminum skids, aluminum hb servo horn, vorza foam servo saver setup, trim your motor shaft so it's not close to the battery, make a shield between pinion and battery, and some are replacing the straps with other brands. So far my stockers are holding fine so I haven't replaced them.

Battery selection is limited due to the size of the battery slot on chassis being so short. I can barely fit a Turnigy 5000 mah 4S pack in there. But that's all the battery I need when you only have 10 minute qualifiers and mains.

I own a losi E 2.0 B and T and this Hot Bodies runs with them no problem. I actually think it might handle better than my E 2.0 B. For the price this kit can't be beat. Buy it and spend about $50 and have a bulletproof buggy that handles with the best of them.

5 stars for me
Anonymous
Friday, Dec 18 2009 (about 14 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
by all means use loctite, but when i do it i use the correct compound and can get my parts apart afterwards. build issue frustration aside, heres the car review. you won't fit quite a few packs in this car so be careful when buying. the motor location doesn't leave a lot of room on the chassis for long packs. i actually ended up modifying the car and running two saddle packs either side of the driveshaft, 1/10 style. not too hard to do and the car handled was well balanced. can't really comment on handling with the stick pack configuration as i didn't really give it a chance. not sure what sort of track would suit the stock shock setup but as with 99% of cars out there i ran softer on the rear and harder on the front, the opposite of what the manual says you should do. also if you're not aware, as with the d4 you won't be able to adjust rear toe in or caster on the front. hotbodies don't make hop-ups and neither does anyone else. car doesn't always require it but sometimes it's nice to have the option especially if you like to play. somewhat strange for a 1/8 buggy. i have had no trouble with durability but others have complained of weak skid plates. don't case 6m triples too often and you'll probably be ok. overall i found the car pretty good but for $300 i don't think you get quite as nice and definitely not as tunable a chassis as with a $600 car. pretty good for the money though -//- Bought all the aluminium hop ups same time as buggy. CVD's all come preassembled with the grub screws super-strength loctited. Stripped 2 of them trying to change the axles over to the lightweight ones. This means I'm going to have to buy 2 new cvd assemblies before using the bits I was hoping to use . Idiots.
Anonymous
Saturday, Apr 5 2014 (about 9 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
I built this kit just for bashing and Im beyond happy. It took about a 10' jump or higher to break it. and even then the breakage was minimal. Ive ran it into a concrete barrier at a pretty high speed and it was fine. I put the front and rear skid plates on as a recommendation from my local hobby shop and I can go out and abuse it and take it home unharmed. Overall i think it handles very well and would be a blast on a track but the battery/motor setup is silly. I knew this getting into the kit though so i just taped a piece of body trimming to the side of the battery that faces the motor and if it rubs its fine. I love this buggy and I would buy it again.
Anonymous
Monday, Jul 18 2011 (about 12 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
I thing someone needs to make the "Bad" post so here it is. Look REAL close at where the battery and the pinion are located on the stock VE8 body. The pinion is going to end up just a few mm from your lipo. You're going to have to either shim the motor or grind off the motor shaft or your pinion will be drilling on your lipo after a bad jump. The ESC wires cross the body to the motor from the back right to the front left. Not a big deal but not a very clean design. The Plus: The car is really easy to drive really fast. Easy setup and not hard to maintain. Overall it's OK but the design of the motor and lipo placement is insane.
CW
Verified Owner
Thursday, Dec 17 2009 (about 14 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
Overall a good kit. Jumps nicely with stock setup. I would recommend upgrading the skid plates to aluminum ones. I broke the chassis, rear skid plate and rear brace twice in only 2 months. HB did replace the 2nd chassis after e-mail them pics so their customer service is excellent. I have also read that other drives are experiencing similar problems with their chassis's either completely breaking or hairline cracking. Hopefully HB will update the chassis because otherwise, this is a great e-buggy!
william murray
Verified Owner
Saturday, Dec 24 2011 (about 12 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
The Ve8 is a good buggy over all. If you are a back yard basher type, this is not the buggy you want. If you do bash it, you will continue to break your suspension shafts that hold your front and rear hub carriers to your A-arms. If you buy this car and decide to bash it, whatever you do, do not upgrade your front, and rear hub carriers to aluminum, because you will break your tie rod ends. I have had this car for a total of 3 weeks, and just bought the HP Vorza. I will use the Ve8 for the track, and Vorza for bashing. The servo saver built into the Ve8 doesn't work to well. You might want to upgrade to a servo arm that will break instead of your servo.
ian Wright
Monday, Aug 22 2011 (about 12 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
hunter yes you can tekno have one get the v4 not the v3 as the v4 handles way better they are avalible from amain or you can get the hhh industeries after market and get the ve8 center diff
Eric Washburn
Tuesday, Jul 26 2011 (about 12 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
@ Hunter... don't bring down a review with 3 stars because you have a nitro version.. and don't even own the vehicle... this is a great 1/8 buggy. The price is right... and it performs very well... look at the youtube videos and you'll see it winning.
David Enriquez
Wednesday, Jan 5 2011 (about 13 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
This is a great 1st timer 1/8 racer. It handles great with stock set up. Options parts galore! Read requirements before you buy. This is not a back yard basher!
Anonymous
Friday, Jan 1 2010 (about 14 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
I agreed with fordstang 100%, Well said my friend!!! It is good too use lock tight on powerful brushless rc vehicles. The ve8 is a excellent car to have. I just brought mine and put in a tekin brushless system and man what a sweet ride it is.
fordstang50
Sunday, Dec 20 2009 (about 14 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
No actually i think you are stupid.If they did not use lock tight and it came apart you would whine about that to.should be reviewing the kit overall.not one problem with lock tight that could have easily been you that caused the hex to strip.
Anonymous
Sunday, Jul 17 2011 (about 12 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
Very big problem with CVD, when You Jump a lot, drive shaft is deformed, vibration starts, and CVD disintegrated, and it is end of your race. VERY thin drive shafts, may be from 1/12 models. Tread lock don't solve that problem.
Anonymous
Wednesday, Nov 24 2010 (about 13 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
WITH ALL THE REVIEWS I SEE THE BEST OPTION IS TO GO AHEAD AND BUY THE HPI VORZA. IT ALREADY HAS ALL THE UPGRADES EXCEPT A GOOD SERVO AND A RECEIVER. I USE MY SAME RECEIVER ON ALL MY R/C CARS ANYWAY. THE VORZA IS AMAZINGLY FAST,NIMBLE VERY FORGIVING. BEST ALL AROUND BANG FOR THE BUCK. I PROMISE IF YOU BUY ONE YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT EVER. IT HAS ALUMINUM THROUGH OUT. NO PLASTIC NO WHERE. AND VERY LIGHT ALSO. HANDS DOWN BEST BUGGY I HAVE EVER NAVIGATED.
Hunter witherrite
Saturday, Aug 14 2010 (about 13 years ago)
HB Racing Ve8 1/8 Off Road Competition Electric Buggy Kit
can you convert a normal d8 to electric???????? i have a d8 and want it electric