A Main Hobbies team driver Chad Bradley is no stranger to most of you, with a career in 1/8 Offroad to rival the best he knows a thing or two on making a high performance 1/8 buggy tick, we caught up with him to hear his take on MIP’s innovative new ‘PRO 8′ product; a kit to turn popular 4WD Shortcourse truck into a lightweight 1/8 electric buggy racing machine.
MIP just released their Pro8 conversion for TLR’s popular SCTE & SCTE 2.0 4WD short course truck that converts your truck into a capable 1/8-scale buggy. Although the 4WD SC class has been popular over the last couple of years, fewer trucks are making it to the track these days. What better way to revitalize your truck than to convert it into a buggy for about $100? Multiple world championship finalist and long-time 1/8-scale racer, Chad Bradley, put the Pro8 to the test at A Main Hobbies’ Outback Raceway. The Pro8 surprised Bradley, and you will be too, once your read what he had to say.
Chad Bradley: “ The Pro8 is extremely fun to drive, and the power to weight ratio seemed perfect for indoor racing. Comparing a 4wd SC to the Pro8 Super Light eBuggy isn’t really a fair comparison. The benefits of using a buggy style body, 1/8-scale wing and tires with low profile sidewalls plays a huge effect on handling and gives the buggy an advantage.
I highly recommend this product. With the popularity of indoor racing and the fall off of 4wd SC trucks, those racers with the Losi SCTE and SCTE 2.0 can easily convert their trucks to a more affordable and user-friendly 1/8-scale electric powered buggy and start racing again with that same equipment. The batteries, ESC and motors that are required to power the Pro8 is more user-friendly than the true 1/8-scale buggy and safer as well.”
Check out the MIP PRO 8 @ A Main Hobbies
Differences Between Pro8 and Standard 1/8-scale Buggy On 4S
“The biggest difference I noticed between a true 1/8 E-Buggy and the MIP Pro8 Super Light E-Buggy was how easy the Pro8 was to drive, this is most likely due to the lighter weight and the power systems used in the Pro8. The power system used was what you would find in most 4wd SC trucks (2s battery and either a 550 or 4 pole 540 motors). I was slightly faster with the true 1/8 E-Buggy, however, I was more consistent with the Pro8. During testing at Outback Raceway it was more exciting to drive the Pro8 than a typical eBuggy because of how nimble it was to drive,” said Chad Bradley, A Main Hobbies’ Product Development.
Benefits of a Pro8 Vs. Conventional 1/8-scale eBuggy
- Nearly 2-pounds lighter.
- Uses less expensive 1/10-scale electronics (same gear used for 4WD SC trucks).
- More nimble, responsive than 4WD SC truck.
- Safer than a normal 8-pound 1/8-scale eBuggy.
- Better suited for indoor tracks.
- Uses 2S lipos, which are much less expensive than 4S typically used for eBuggies.
- Tire wear should be less with the Pro8 than a conventional 1