Kraton Aussie RC Playgrounds Brutally honest opinion of the K8S. Video

[slick2500]

I get free stuff sometimes. Candy, stickers, hats, custom parts, beer ect

 

[Armarookie43]

At first even though I've loved mine since day 1, I agreed with the general tone regarding the stock form - but the more I thought about it and the further the video went on, the more I began to disagree with the general sentiment, and I think I pseudo agreed with Vas at first only because I have been a lover of his channel for so long.

I will also admit that over time found it a bit annoying that he complained about the faff of the repair and how it was such a process and that he had to pay for shipping it to them, when ultimately it's still a free $900usd RC that was repaired for free besides shipping, and got repaired over the holidays.

Now, I wouldn't recommend the k8 to a total scrub - OBVIOUSLY - it's $900 and literally weighs enough to break your tibia if you drive into yourself, or worse - but for someone with some RC experience, you get a big RC that handles better than any other big RC, jumps more even and balanced than any other big RC, has truly amazing mod path potential, is the least expensive of it's class (it is right or did I make that up?), can be made very durable for another 25%, (I would argue to make a 6s Kraton big bash durable is an additional 40-50%) has the best diffs I've seen outside of a custom machined rig, etc. It just needs a bigger pinion and has the same chassis weak point as every 6s Arrma. The stock esc and motor handle 25t even with the added weight of an aftermarket chassis, so that means that in stock form, available gearing range is not an issue.

Also it's worth noting that Dearden himself explicitly said about the k8 the reason why it doesn't have a modern plastic chassis. The tooling budget to make a plastic chassis that big that is durable and light and doesn't handle like ass from geometry changes is beyond their financial scope. It's massively more expensive to develop, and fb is STILL full of people complaining about the price and durability issues of something they haven't even bought or driven, so Arrma is clearly near their target audience's ceiling.

So in the end I realized I don't agree with the tone or sentiment of the video at all, and I think it's unfortunately timed. Vas can legitimately hate it and say so and that's fine but I think it's off and very sensational to call it the worst Arrma.

The chassis bending thing doesn't bother me that much. My chassis is bent on my Kraton 6s, Typhon 6s and Outcast 6s, but they still drive fine. They are for bashing, not street racing. Is this the case for the Kraton 8s? Will it still drive fine? That's all I care about honestly. My son bought an Xmaxx 8s yesterday by mistake (don't ask how that happened),and I was going to try to exchange it for something else since I already have an Xmaxx 8s ?. I do send my vehicles. But mostly about 5-10ft and very rarely 20ft at the skate park. Thanks!

 

[jondilly1974]

The chassis bending thing doesn't bother me that much. My chassis is bent on my Kraton 6s, Typhon 6s and Outcast 6s, but they still drive fine. They are for bashing, not street racing. Is this the case for the Kraton 8s? Will it still drive fine? That's all I care about honestly. My son bought an Xmaxx 8s yesterday by mistake (don't ask how that happened),and I was going to try to exchange it for something else since I already have an Xmaxx 8s ?. I do send my vehicles. But mostly about 5-10ft and very rarely 20ft at the skate park. Thanks!

That's not sending, that's a speed bump ?????

 

[Armarookie43]

That's not sending, that's a speed bump ?????

For me is sending it ?. Maybe I'll be fine then ?

 

[Steel_Rain]

The chassis bending thing doesn't bother me that much. My chassis is bent on my Kraton 6s, Typhon 6s and Outcast 6s, but they still drive fine. They are for bashing, not street racing. Is this the case for the Kraton 8s? Will it still drive fine? That's all I care about honestly. My son bought an Xmaxx 8s yesterday by mistake (don't ask how that happened),and I was going to try to exchange it for something else since I already have an Xmaxx 8s ?. I do send my vehicles. But mostly about 5-10ft and very rarely 20ft at the skate park. Thanks!

I really do think the jury is still out on braces fixing the OE chassis issue. Alot depends on outside influences such as the type of impact and level/scope of the kinetics involved. While T2T braces help, the end points, or overhangs, outside the line of the brace are also prone to failure without reinforcement. While the brace (or bracing) obviously reduces the ability for the chassis plate to fold along a plane that it supports, that doesn't account for deformation outside of that plane and in this hobby, there are many ways for that to happen.

In modern automobiles, there can be dozens of material types used to deflect or absorb the energy resulting from impact in the unitized structure of the vehicle, all the while knowing that after the impact occurs, the vehicle may very well be undrivable or not repairable. In RC, think of all these factors like a series of car accidents that a manufacture would have to plan for. Then allow the vehicle to sustain those impacts and continue driving undamaged, all while appealing to a set demographic that's ready to complain at the first failure point.

Yes, bracing is part of it, but materials are the true key here. 7075 isn't a perfect material, nor is plastic, FRP or otherwise.

 

[SrC]

I just want to get on Arrma's radar. Maybe they will send me a spur gear to try or something ?

Yeah those OE pinion gears are still not here yet. What gives with that Arrma? Guys are begging for them. Uniquely machined, why are they not on the Parts train yet?

 

[bicketybam]

Yeah those OE pinion gears are still not here yet. What gives with that Arrma? Guys are begging for them. Uniquely machined, why are they not on the Parts train yet?

I thought people we're ordering them? I get mine pinions from Sagacustomrc. Top notch. I have solid intell that Arrma will be releasing a smaller spur but it won't be for a while. That will be nice ???

 

[SrC]

On HH site, all I saw was an 18T Safe-D pinion. Smaller spurs would allow better gearing options.

 

[Armarookie43]

I really do think the jury is still out on braces fixing the OE chassis issue. Alot depends on outside influences such as the type of impact and level/scope of the kinetics involved. While T2T braces help, the end points, or overhangs, outside the line of the brace are also prone to failure without reinforcement. While the brace (or bracing) obviously reduces the ability for the chassis plate to fold along a plane that it supports, that doesn't account for deformation outside of that plane and in this hobby, there are many ways for that to happen.

In modern automobiles, there can be dozens of material types used to deflect or absorb the energy resulting from impact in the unitized structure of the vehicle, all the while knowing that after the impact occurs, the vehicle may very well be undrivable or not repairable. In RC, think of all these factors like a series of car accidents that a manufacture would have to plan for. Then allow the vehicle to sustain those impacts and continue driving undamaged, all while appealing to a set demographic that's ready to complain at the first failure point.

Yes, bracing is part of it, but materials are the true key here. 7075 isn't a perfect material, nor is plastic, FRP or otherwise.

I decided to return the xmaxx that was bought by mistake and will not be getting the K8S. I already have 7 RC'S that fit my every need for now. Thanks.

 

[cake]

I must agree, most of them isnt buying it anyway. If you take a decision based on a smaller YouTube channel, then it’s their loss not arrma.

People say they must upgrade it to drive normal with it, then they must have got some wrong information around.

If you have plans to bash it hard, watch professional rc bashers using it like rich Duperbash or rcdude81, im very impressed that the stock diff, drive shaft, a arms, wheels and suspension take this extremly hard beating.

This video and talk around is just too much negativity from people that isnt even own one or drived one.
Go with k6s instead, then they don't realice that it’s just the same issue for a smaller truck that need more upgrades out of the box.
Wonder how that can be acceptable, and with 8s it seems like they having zero tolerance.

Why expect that the k8s is the first one that not need upgrades?

900 isnt much for a big scale like this, add 200 and you end up with the most durable chassis ever made for rc, with beefy diffs and a solid driveline ???

I don’t know why your dogging people for their opinion. But I’ll go ahead and explain because I’m one of those people. I had $2k to do what ever I wanted when the 8s dropped. I calculated the cost of a k6s, (fount it for $500 new ?) plus a lipo, some of the mild upgrades, and saw the HUGE amount of parts available and decided it was a safe bet that I knew I would love. All in about $650 and it SHREDS. 85ft jumps zero breakage.

The k8s is almost twice the cost out of the box, would have needed 2 lipos, and no clue what aftermarket part support would look like. I went with the 6s and I couldn’t be happier. The 8s is sick and I will own one someday, with that said I’m thankful for Rich doing the big tests and showing what some mods can do, and Vas for giving an honest review straight out of the box and sharing his views. In this day and age, experienced you tubers, and forums allow consumers to get stoked on the manufacture and their marketing, but see an inside view of real life usage. Don’tget too wrapped up in other people’s views my friend! If you don’t like it, scroll on! Happy bashing

 

[Hotwheel85]

I don’t know why your dogging people for their opinion. But I’ll go ahead and explain because I’m one of those people. I had $2k to do what ever I wanted when the 8s dropped. I calculated the cost of a k6s, (fount it for $500 new ?) plus a lipo, some of the mild upgrades, and saw the HUGE amount of parts available and decided it was a safe bet that I knew I would love. All in about $650 and it SHREDS. 85ft jumps zero breakage.

The k8s is almost twice the cost out of the box, would have needed 2 lipos, and no clue what aftermarket part support would look like. I went with the 6s and I couldn’t be happier. The 8s is sick and I will own one someday, with that said I’m thankful for Rich doing the big tests and showing what some mods can do, and Vas for giving an honest review straight out of the box and sharing his views. In this day and age, experienced you tubers, and forums allow consumers to get stoked on the manufacture and their marketing, but see an inside view of real life usage. Don’tget too wrapped up in other people’s views my friend! If you don’t like it, scroll on! Happy bashing

I just felt to explane it this way just because i find unfair some of the talk around.
You went with a k6s, that is nice and im sure you will have hours after hours of fun with it

If you gear the 8s to reach 50mph and compare 6s with 8s im sure both reach 50mph very equal if you take the time.

But again i agree it’s weak with punch level 3/17T pinion out of the box vs 6s out of the box. If you pay 8-16 dollars for a new pinion, set the punch to 5 it is not slower.

What my point is, that the 6s kraton also have the same issue with the bending chassis. Many have also reported about the radio have latency, diffs not seems to be bulletproof either. So it’s not more durable.

But in 6s world its just fine and accepted. They just upgrade it.
That was the reason for i asking why this 8s get so bashed, and reality is that Arrma rtr isnt that durable as it could be. Every rtr out there have their weakness. And k6/8s seems to share some of the same faults.

Im sure it was lack of aftermarked parts for the k6s when it was new to the marked also, so that is not conserning.

K6s would wheelie and take backflip more easy, it’s lighter and it would be like a stunt truck, more fun factor compared to the big brother in stock form. But speed is similar once you tune it right.

Im new to arrma, love it, but i still wonder how they could use so much loctite, put 50mph on the box and deliver it way to under geared, and not include the speed pinion!

That is simple things to make it right. It’s absolutley terrible mistakes if you ask me.
Im fine with paying for the pinion, but the loctite i wish we all was saved for it. The loctite seems to be a issue for years.

I paid 350 dollars more for the 8s, if i didnt already had owned plenty of 1/8 scales earlier i also would have ended up with a 6s kraton. Happy bashing to you too man!

 

[Megasty]

For little less than half the Kraton's life there was no aftermarket support for the thing. All these skatepark & moon jumping videos didn't exist either. The V1 had no 3rd party parts at all & the few of us that had the thing were burning up the ESCs. It also drove like it had a barrel of bricks tied to the rear since the springs were bad. It had hub extensions that help blow bearings. It really was a pretty bad truck, but it was still EONs tougher than ANY RTR of that time. The V2 made the Kraton what it is today & put Arrma on the map. Most companies at that time released a RTR & left the flawed mess to its own devices but Arrma started to work on it as soon as they received enough feedback. I have all 4 6s Kratons. I retired the V1. The V2 & V3 look completely identical, except the V2 is a bit more beat up & they have the same parts. I put most of the V3 parts I liked on the V2. My V4 is missing most of that useless V4 garbage eyecandy. It has the V2 servo saver hat never gave me a problem. The motor mount was an awesome upgrade so most of my fleet has them now.

But seriously, there's no point talking about fun factor & whatnot between the 6s & 8s. Whether one is worth it over the other is just more opinionated stuff. Factors that are grounded in reality are price, functional availability, & size. The 8s costs more, bigger batteries, less (more costly) upgrades, V1 vs V4. But the most important factor is size or rather space. The K8S is over twice the size of the 6S so you're going to need a TON of room to leg it out if you intend on upgrading it so it's as fast as a 6s. You can always gain the dexterity to maneuver it around stuff but there's hardly any fun in that. I tend to find the buried stomp everytime I'm in the part of the woods with natural jumps. My smaller cars can't deal with that area cause of the tall grass but the K8S & X-Maxx can roll over all of it . . . until the X-Maxx breaks & the K8S digs up that stomp

 

[slick2500]

For little less than half the Kraton's life there was no aftermarket support for the thing. All these skatepark & moon jumping videos didn't exist either. The V1 had no 3rd party parts at all & the few of us that had the thing were burning up the ESCs. It also drove like it had a barrel of bricks tied to the rear since the springs were bad. It had hub extensions that help blow bearings. It really was a pretty bad truck, but it was still EONs tougher than ANY RTR of that time. The V2 made the Kraton what it is today & put Arrma on the map. Most companies at that time released a RTR & left the flawed mess to its own devices but Arrma started to work on it as soon as they received enough feedback. I have all 4 6s Kratons. I retired the V1. The V2 & V3 look completely identical, except the V2 is a bit more beat up & they have the same parts. I put most of the V3 parts I liked on the V2. My V4 is missing most of that useless V4 garbage eyecandy. It has the V2 servo saver hat never gave me a problem. The motor mount was an awesome upgrade so most of my fleet has them now.

But seriously, there's no point talking about fun factor & whatnot between the 6s & 8s. Whether one is worth it over the other is just more opinionated stuff. Factors that are grounded in reality are price, functional availability, & size. The 8s costs more, bigger batteries, less (more costly) upgrades, V1 vs V4. But the most important factor is size or rather space. The K8S is over twice the size of the 6S so you're going to need a TON of room to leg it out if you intend on upgrading it so it's as fast as a 6s. You can always gain the dexterity to maneuver it around stuff but there's hardly any fun in that. I tend to find the buried stomp everytime I'm in the part of the woods with natural jumps. My smaller cars can't deal with that area cause of the tall grass but the K8S & X-Maxx can roll over all of it . . . until the X-Maxx breaks & the K8S digs up that stomp

Right 90% of the aftermarket stuff for these has come out in the last 1-2 years, when I first got my Outcast we had Rpm, Voltage, GKA, Hot Racing, Markor, M3 and GPM just started making parts. Now I can't even count how many vendors make parts.

 

[Steel_Rain]

I think the real issue with the V2 will be on the marketing guys plates. The DBXLe was just refreshed recently and that carries an $1100 price tag. The "fixes" for the Kraton 8s V2 will drive the price up to that level or more. I feel that Horizon places Losi as a premier brand in the larger scale market but the Kraton 8s was already on the design table after the buy/sell from Hobbico. They saw the potential of the 8s platform and green lighted it, albeit with an underwhelming electronics package after the bean counters were involved. Now we all know that the MAX6 in the DBXLe (first gen) wasn't up to the task, however, the motor and servo were and hence the extra cost. Drop in a MAX5 with that vehicle and you had a fairly decent system. The opposite is the case with the Kraton 8s currently, but the price also reflects that.

Honestly, when the news broke that morning on the Kraton 8s release, I thought this would be a $1500 rig...until I saw the motor/ESC/Servo. That is the budget part of the Kraton 8s...so as to not step on its brother from a different mother, the DBXLe 2.0. If you gave it the DBXLe (1st gen) motor and MAX5 from the factory...why would anyone buy the newly freshened DBXLe 2.0?

My thoughts are Horizon needs to rethink it's placement of Losi/Arrma. Speaking as former and current member of all the 1/5th scales from LOSI...it's a great, durable brand...but it doesn't appeal to bashers as much a Arrma does. If I were in those strategy meetings, I would place Arrma at the top of the bashing world and give them the resources to do what they do best. Losi would become a race brand (it already is) and I would rethink the 1/5th and 1/6th stuff. I think the SRR and SBR are great (I own both) but they cannot match the durability of my Arrma's so I don't bash with them the same way. Let's face it...the LOSI 5IVE-T chassis has been around for many years and it's time to rethink the design layout and goals of the platform. From the ground up it was really meant for IC power and it's balanced for that. Give us a real, giant scale Electric MT Losi! Or how about a huge basher buggy?!? And then let Arrma handle the Truggy and Stunt Truck class in the 1/8th scale and larger.

Regardless of what happens, we all know the V2 will be the next leapfrog. I'm willing to bet that Arrma will delay the release of the next 1/5 vehicle due to the issues had with the V1 Kraton 8s. That being said, Arrma is a brand that learns from it's mistakes and no doubt they will follow that same course with the upcoming releases related to this platform.

 

[SrC]

HH just needs people willing to pay $900. for the K8 as is. Saturate the market, and Upgrade suppliers will appear. Its just a cycle with all brands and models. There is no comparison between 1/5 scale (super scale, big scale) or whatever you want to call it. Scale in RC has no set standard. There never was. When it comes to racing rigs, the same thing. The RC industry is very loose with scale. Picture an exact full scale replica of a K8S. Do the math. It follows no scale. It wouldn't fit on a real street. $900. is very low for its size and weight. Why cry about having to upgrade it. If you do. Then this "size" rig is not for you. I don't pay much mind to reviews. Rarely. Reviews are very subjective no matter who the reviewer is. And it is very obvious who the Fanboy reviewers are. They always wear it on their sleeve.
I let my wallet and common sense decide what I think of a rig.

 

[Tremonti]

I'm in a local FB Group with about 58 Kraton 8S owners, and no one has complained about 1. Bend chassis, 2. the speed or 3. the steering servo. Of course the 8S can be improved on those three fronts, but same goes for other rc cars from other brands at the same price point. ARRMA kinda leaves it up to us (the customers) to decide which upgrades you want to do to your 8S. Fitting the 8S with a M2C-like aluminum chassis, a MAX5 system and faster/stronger steering servo will nearly double it's MSRP. It's all about having fun!

 

[SrC]

I have a sneaking suspicion that if the K8 came as a Roller just like the Limitless there would be alot less haters. Because the lite weights would have passed on it and there would be little crying.
@bicketybam approached his K8 as a Roller, not an RTR right out of the box. Smart in my opinion. He cut to the chase. Makes sense to me. I will follow his lead when I get one.

 

[Cwatson427]

Just watched the run aussie rc had with it.
He mention that he liked how it drive and it was really fun. He was very happy about it. But he wanted more power and try a bigger pinion.
Many times he say how big it is, but now he complain about the size it is not a 1/5??

I say it again im surpriced about how much negativity he suddently saying about this truck in the last video. I understand its frustrating to send it back and wait weeks, but now that you got it back give it another try with bigger pinion, and see if the new chassi is holding up better before making people change their mind getting it.

I know you said this a while back but you honestly don't know why he was upset??? You pay 900$ for a truck and to get that type of catastrophic damage that he got over mild jumps is unacceptable. I'm the biggest arrma fan out there and the biggest traxxas hater and won't support them one bit but you look at the stock xmaxx and it would of soaked up those intermediate jumps like nothing. You shouldn't run a brand new truck for the first time and jump it mildly and come home and have it looking like a damn banana. I'm glad I passed on the 8s Kraton although it would probably suit me better as I'm not a big jumper and more just a offroader. If I had the same experience as him of course I'd be pissed as hell. They also should sent him a new truck and not played catch across the ocean for weeks especially for such a big, respectable company and hes been one of their biggest supporters. I too think the 8s Kraton *v1* is a fail. It's too heavy and that seems to make it break so easily. I've seen nothing but that truck constantly breaking and bending in all the videos I've watched. Let's hope the v2 version is much better. Say what you will about the xmaxx but it's much more durable than the 8s kraton and it pisses me off to say that.

I'm in a local FB Group with about 58 Kraton 8S owners, and no one has complained about 1. Bend chassis, 2. the speed or 3. the steering servo. Of course the 8S can be improved on those three fronts, but same goes for other rc cars from other brands at the same price point. ARRMA kinda leaves it up to us (the customers) to decide which upgrades you want to do to your 8S. Fitting the 8S with a M2C-like aluminum chassis, a MAX5 system and faster/stronger steering servo will nearly double it's MSRP. It's all about having fun!

Well the thing about owning a truck is the owners tend to only talk about the positives and try to either not mention or downplay the negatives. I'm guilty of that also. I've seen so many 8s kratons snapping arms so easily and some people bending their chassis over small/medium size jumps. My buddy got one a week ago and literally has done small jumps and the chassis is already bowed. He had a roll over going like 15mph on a 45° day and snapped a arm. The truck is just too heavy imho and the plastic components just can't hold up to that amount of weight.

 

[r4nd0m]

Let's hope the v2 version is much better. Say what you will about the xmaxx but it's much more durable than the 8s kraton and it pisses me off to say that.

Well the thing about owning a truck is the owners tend to only talk about the positives and try to either not mention or downplay the negatives. I'm guilty of that also. I've seen so many 8s kratons snapping arms so easily and some people bending their chassis over small/medium size jumps. My buddy got one a week ago and literally has done small jumps and the chassis is already bowed. He had a roll over going like 15mph on a 45° day and snapped a arm. The truck is just too heavy imho and the plastic components just can't hold up to that amount of weight.

ok I have taken the time to cut one session to mostly include the flips and cartwheels ... have a look, based on your statements you probably would expect more damage at 9degrees C than:

1x ARA330574 SHOCK SHAFT 5x102mm
1x ARA320492 WING MOUNT

fun fact, only by reviewing the 2minute video I realised how many times the Kraton actually had cartwheeled during that session so I wouldnt say its not durable looking at the total damage - chassis is straight

 

[gotnitro]

I had this great idea that NO ONE thought of yet! I was going to post a picture of that dead horse below:

But then thought, NAW.. For what right?

Then I had an epiphany! Now, imagine this.. Some of you might have to think very hard about this. I think I've found the CURE!

U NO LIKE, U NO BUY!

U LIKE, U BUY!

Holy Bhallzz!! Im a genius!