New 1/8 MT from Associated! Looks interesting. Rival MT8

[Megasty]

Strangely enough, both the OG Kaiju & MT8 has the same size tire: 3.15" (80mm) x 5.9" (150mm) with a 1.2" (30mm) offset.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Truck drives soooo good.

In the video it seemed like it constantly wanted to nose down? Is that rear chassis slap from squat (what my summit is famous for)? Potentially a product of the rear shocks being too stiff like you mentioned?

The basic different between a MT & truggy is the the latter will handle better. A truggy has all 3 diffs on the same plane while traditional MT's front & rear diffs are lower than the center diff/trans. This effects center of gravity which has a great deal to do with handling. The Kaiju takes this a bit further. All 3 diffs are on the same plane, but the rest of the truck is fairly higher than the diffs. The floor of the tub chassis is center cut to the diffs. So it has a really high center of gravity. The Maxx & X-Maxx are built the same way.

I already wrecked a few gearboxes/shock towers with my upper arms. I tried an 1/4" 6061 aluminum plate first & it broke, so I moved up to a 1/8" steel plate & it has held up so far. It also doesn't help that the upper hinges are all plastic. If the arms don't give, the ears on the gearbox & shock towers will.

Definitely right about the MT vs truggy. I feel like i see less true MT's on the market now. IE, i don't see people buying an xmaxx because it handles like it's on rails. Seems like industry wide push to truggification?

I couldn't tell you why, but for some reason I still want a Kaiju over this. I think the kaiju just has that MT look/feel to it. Maybe i'll just trick myself by buying an MT8 and swapping on the kaiju body.

Sort of like how these are both 1/10 scale monster trucks.



View attachment 208711

Yeah, exactly like how my Summit is 1/10 scale...

 

[razorrc]

Wow! I'd say it drives different than a kaiju! Double front and triple backflips on 4s! Awesome! Nice video Razor, nice driving too. I guess the lower arms are indeed too flexible like kaiju. I still feel like it's actually the lower arms that are the root cause of the uppers breaking. There seems to be too much flex in them I feel.
Turnbuckles in place of uppers is the quick solution I agree. I'm not 100% sure if the mojave arms will cure the problem or just move the breakage further inward(D block or gearbox)..
The MT8 is definitely more truggy in it's handling traits I'd say.
Now that there are 2 rigs (actually 3) using same arms, maybe RPM will have reason to develop some? That would sure be sweet..even better would be the OEM stepping up. If they would just add some more material to the lower arms, the truck would be SO much more durable IMO.

Actually, the arms are super stiff. I think they were trying to address the Kaiju outdrive problem by removing most of the flex from the arms so that the driveshaft plunge doesn't overextend and smash into the outdrives (and break them). It's part of what contributes to the truck feeling very stiff/solid/responsive, like I noticed in my first run video. But this leads to other problems that I'll get into in the full review video...

Hey razor, can you start comparing size of different cars in your unboxing. It's really hard to see in the video how big the car is. I would like to see cars who claim to be 8scale to be compared to erevo or kraton, or 10 scale to hoss or arrma alternative. I have seen one comparison and this mt8 looks slightly smaller that max v1. I have a feeling that manufacturers mislead people with scale and size

I'll be honest, I only care about the wheelbase and usually mention it. All this 1/8 1/10 or whatever scale is nonsense, and you can always look up the specs on the website if you want to know more in detail.

In the video it seemed like it constantly wanted to nose down? Is that rear chassis slap from squat (what my summit is famous for)? Potentially a product of the rear shocks being too stiff like you mentioned?

It jumps pretty flat/neutral. If you see me nose down when I'm jumping from the small jump on the left side straight into the bowl, it's because I'm matching the angle of the dive into the bowl. People probably don't realize this, but when I jump it from the left side down into the bowl, I'm actually trying to land it on the steep downramp into the bowl.

I couldn't tell you why, but for some reason I still want a Kaiju over this. I think the kaiju just has that MT look/feel to it. Maybe i'll just trick myself by buying an MT8 and swapping on the kaiju body.

Kaiju body holes doesn't line up the same, they changed the mounting points on the MT8.

 

[SrC]

Wonder how long before TA discontinues the MT8 and all the spare parts that go to it.
Parts are also hard to get for TA stuff, years past and today. The most stupidist things can be on B/O.
No longer the loyal TA fanboy that I once was. And TA got me into this hobby. Got burned within 6 months of buying TA SCT rigs. Discontinued within 6 months , parts and all. Sits as shelf queen now with no diffs available. As a reminder to never buy TA RTR's again. I am gun shy now.
TA Track kits, I cannot speak bad about.

 

[Megasty]

Wonder how long before TA discontinues the MT8 and all the spare parts that go to it.
Parts are also hard to get for TA stuff, years past and today. The most stupidist things can be on B/O.
No longer the loyal TA fanboy that I once was. And TA got me into this hobby. Got burned within 6 months of buying TA SCT rigs. Discontinued within 6 months , parts and all. Sits as shelf queen now with no diffs available. As a reminder to never buy TA RTR's again. I am gun shy now.
TA Track kits, I cannot speak bad about.

I made that mistake too. I loved the Rival so I bought into what they had a bit later, RC10 & SC10. Both long gone. Now they turned the entire lineup over to this mixed bag of tricks with crappy plastic driveshafts with steel upgrades After playing around with the MT10, they can keep that stuff.

 

[SrC]

Thunder Tiger owns TA now. For quite a while now. All changed for TA when this happened. The owner of TA put it up for sale years ago. TT got them.
Many don't even remember Team Associated back when. To me it was a different RC brand back then.
A different company, a different business model back then. They used to always inventory parts going far back to the Rc10's. Now TA will sell off all the parts at a bulk cost to one or two vendors as soon as the model is discontinued. And they tend to discontinue models fairly often when sales drop off and are not popular. Which is often these days. The parts are then considered rare and marked up super high till all are gone. A stupid cheap plastic 1/10 gear diff that constantly breaks for $18. SRP now costs $75 dollars each on Ebay if you are stuck.

 

[Value rc]

Wonder how long before TA discontinues the MT8 and all the spare parts that go to it.
Parts are also hard to get for TA stuff, years past and today. The most stupidist things can be on B/O.
No longer the loyal TA fanboy that I once was. And TA got me into this hobby. Got burned within 6 months of buying TA SCT rigs. Discontinued within 6 months , parts and all. Sits as shelf queen now with no diffs available. As a reminder to never buy TA RTR's again. I am gun shy now.
TA Track kits, I cannot speak bad about.

That's a good point. Long time ago I bought ta apex scion. It was discontinued within a year or two. I can't find parts for it so it has been sitting broken for the last 5 years. It was only 230$ for new brushless onroad, but in reality, biggest waste of money

 

[Megasty]

Thunder Tiger owns TA now. For quite a while now. All changed for TA when this happened. The owner of TA put it up for sale years ago. TT got them.
Many don't even remember Team associated back when. To me was a different RC brand back then.
A different company, a different business model back then.

Yeah, whenever I look at my Bushmaster, all I see is a RC8. It's discontinued too, but TT still sell it on their site dirt cheap. I bought 2 8e's some years ago on a whim after thinking it looked like a RC8 & literally most of the parts fit, even the drivetrains are the same.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Wonder how long before TA discontinues the MT8 and all the spare parts that go to it.
Parts are also hard to get for TA stuff, years past and today. The most stupidist things can be on B/O.
No longer the loyal TA fanboy that I once was. And TA got me into this hobby. Got burned within 6 months of buying TA SCT rigs. Discontinued within 6 months , parts and all. Sits as shelf queen now with no diffs available. As a reminder to never buy TA RTR's again. I am gun shy now.
TA Track kits, I cannot speak bad about.

Maybe that's the joke though? Shares enough with the Kaiju models that redcat will keep the MT8 going, even longer after the MT8 is discontinued?

So what's the connection here that I'm missing? Is this like a Subaru / Toyota partnership (FRS vs BRZ)? The same car, just swap a few parts so you can call it yours? Is redcat owned by TT?

 

[SrC]

Yeah, whenever I look at my Bushmaster, all I see is a RC8. It's discontinued too, but TT still sell it on their site dirt cheap. I bought 2 8e's some years ago on a whim after thinking it looked like a RC8 & literally most of the parts fit, even the drivetrains are the same.

I searched high and low for TA compitable parts for my Pro SE SCT rig on TT's website. No such luck. All sold out.
It was really an older TT model rebadged as a TA RTR SCT. TT messed up TA as a brand IMHO. Almost like a hostile takeover.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

It jumps pretty flat/neutral. If you see me nose down when I'm jumping from the small jump on the left side straight into the bowl, it's because I'm matching the angle of the dive into the bowl. People probably don't realize this, but when I jump it from the left side down into the bowl, I'm actually trying to land it on the steep downramp into the bowl.

No, one of the times that popped out to me most was at 10:03 in the video, i didn't think i heard braking, just seemed to nose down. Mostly the smaller kickers in the middle, and on the right side where i saw it, and it overall just seemed to have a tendency to hit front tires first if you weren't flipping. But i'm probably just be over analyzing it!

 

[slick2500]

In the video it seemed like it constantly wanted to nose down? Is that rear chassis slap from squat (what my summit is famous for)? Potentially a product of the rear shocks being too stiff like you mentioned?

Definitely right about the MT vs truggy. I feel like i see less true MT's on the market now. IE, i don't see people buying an xmaxx because it handles like it's on rails. Seems like industry wide push to truggification?

I couldn't tell you why, but for some reason I still want a Kaiju over this. I think the kaiju just has that MT look/feel to it. Maybe i'll just trick myself by buying an MT8 and swapping on the kaiju body.

Yeah, exactly like how my Summit is 1/10 scale...

Yup 1/10 scale for sure

 

[Megasty]

I searched high and low for TA compitable parts for my Pro SE SCT rig on TT's website. No such luck. All sold out.
It was really an older TT model rebadged as a TA RTR SCT. TT messed up TA as a brand IMHO. Almost like a hostile takeover.

HSP has a stake in most hobby grade RC-related Asian companies, TT included. It's not even a monopoly. They don't kick their name Horizon does, parenting everything. They merely exist, helping smaller companies help themselves, & get loaded in the process. Right now TT is a husk, yet they own TA who are car sisters with Redcat, who has been partners with Team Magic, another Taiwan company. It really all adds up. Money talks big though. If it wasn't for Horizon being US based, the next big bidder would have taken Hobbico - & Arrma would of ended up being another TA with us hopelessly comparing the V5 today with the V3 of old. Of course, HSP would of left as many qualities in Arrma as possible while keeping the status quo. But that means no 1/5s or EXBs.

Horizon might have their flaws, but they're not a huge ghost company pulling strings in the background. All of this helped Redcat but dumped on TA, but that's just how bad Redcat use to be when HSP's "good" stuff can help them but turn a once great company like TA into bottom feeders with subpar components. I can't sugarcoat their products when it has this monkey metal in it.

My OG Rival does have a few aluminum upgrades like hinges & steering block but that's it. I even bought more but never used them. The tires from the thing were even copied & you can buy them on Amazon now. I used to throw this truck around more than anything & never broke an axle, arm, or bent a driveshaft. The stock arms are super flexible but are twice as thick as the Kaiju. It really was made to take bad jumps. Those were definitely difference times. A company would never survive today making a car like this. The thing even has a slipper clutch & center diff. I remember finding a steel spur that would work for it too but never put it in.

I don't even know how to begin to compare it to the MT8. It's MUCH bigger & so smooth that it drives like a truggy.

 

[razorrc]

No, one of the times that popped out to me most was at 10:03 in the video, i didn't think i heard braking, just seemed to nose down. Mostly the smaller kickers in the middle, and on the right side where i saw it, and it overall just seemed to have a tendency to hit front tires first if you weren't flipping. But i'm probably just be over analyzing it!

I'm letting off the throttle in all of those places intentionally which will bring the nose down since it's decelerating. If I maintain constant throttle (you'll hear the motor maintain revs) it jumps flat. Even that little kicker in the middle at the bottom of the bowl I am intentionally reducing throttle to maintain all 4 tires on the ground (following the contour of the downside) so that I can accelerate hard as the suspension compresses right after the kicker.

An example of maintaining throttle is at 11:01 -- I maintained the throttle over those areas and you'll see the truck is just flat.

 

[Value rc]

HSP has a stake in most hobby grade RC-related Asian companies, TT included. It's not even a monopoly. They don't kick their name Horizon does, parenting everything. They merely exist, helping smaller companies help themselves, & get loaded in the process. Right now TT is a husk, yet they own TA who are car sisters with Redcat, who has been partners with Team Magic, another Taiwan company. It really all adds up. Money talks big though. If it wasn't for Horizon being US based, the next big bidder would have taken Hobbico - & Arrma would of ended up being another TA with us hopelessly comparing the V5 today with the V3 of old. Of course, HSP would of left as many qualities in Arrma as possible while keeping the status quo. But that means no 1/5s or EXBs.

Horizon might have their flaws, but they're not a huge ghost company pulling strings in the background. All of this helped Redcat but dumped on TA, but that's just how bad Redcat use to be when HSP's "good" stuff can help them but turn a once great company like TA into bottom feeders with subpar components. I can't sugarcoat their products when it has this monkey metal in it.

My OG Rival does have a few aluminum upgrades like hinges & steering block but that's it. I even bought more but never used them. The tires from the thing were even copied & you can buy them on Amazon now. I used to throw this truck around more than anything & never broke an axle, arm, or bent a driveshaft. The stock arms are super flexible but are twice as thick as the Kaiju. It really was made to take bad jumps. Those were definitely difference times. A company would never survive today making a car like this. The thing even has a slipper clutch & center diff. I remember finding a steel spur that would work for it too but never put it in.

I don't even know how to begin to compare it to the MT8. It's MUCH bigger & so smooth that it drives like a truggy.

I am not sure if team associated racing division is separate. I have an old sc5m and it's the best handling 2wd short course I ever drove, and it's super reliable. But I am not impressed with rtr stuff. I don't have to many of their rtr, just apex, but that's the worst name brand car I have. It's cringe when I see new apex 2 brushed that sells for 400$. I am not even sure why apex is not just rtr tc3, it may look similar but at least suspension parts are completely different

 

[slick2500]

I am not sure if team associated racing division is separate. I have an old sc5m and it's the best handling 2wd short course I ever drove, and it's super reliable. But I am not impressed with rtr stuff. I don't have to many of their rtr, just apex, but that's the worst name brand car I have. It's cringe when I see new apex 2 brushed that sells for 400$. I am not even sure why apex is not just rtr tc3, it may look similar but at least suspension parts are completely different

At least I'm not the only one who thinks the old Apex was a giant turd.

 

[SrC]

Maybe that's the joke though? Shares enough with the Kaiju models that redcat will keep the MT8 going, even longer after the MT8 is discontinued?

So what's the connection here that I'm missing? Is this like a Subaru / Toyota partnership (FRS vs BRZ)? The same car, just swap a few parts so you can call it yours? Is redcat owned by TT?

Redcat and TT just outsources the parts from the same Taiwan or China Generic RC companies. TT is just a holding company of TA that keeps them in the RC game.
Thats why they have many fly by night models that come and go. They make a killing, initially marketing a trendy rig and move on to another when sales slow down.. How can they be called Hobby grade like this? I spoke to TA about this. The guy I spoke with remembered the old TA and said the RTR models are made to a cheap pricepoint and they don't bother keeping them for long. When the parts become B/O for a long while, it is a sign the model is short lived. Especially if you start seeing The parts in the Clearance section of TA's site. That means you better sell off your TA rig fast. Or be stuck with one you cant repair. And Upgrade aftermarket support is a zero with TA. No Mfr wants to invest in Upgrade parts, Mfr'ing parts for a model that is gone within a year.

 

[SrC]

That's a good point. Long time ago I bought ta apex scion. It was discontinued within a year or two. I can't find parts for it so it has been sitting broken for the last 5 years. It was only 230$ for new brushless onroad, but in reality, biggest waste of money

Dude, I relate. TA has been trying to catch up with the Basher crowd to break into this large market. Too little too late for them. They just keep producing garbage IMHO. One hit wonders with all the hype to match initially. If they were anything close to decent models, they would last for at least 5-8 years running with complete parts support to match. Like Arrma/HH does. And Trx.
Go to TA's website, they list numerous models. And a very large percentage say Discontinued. Look at what is not discontinued, and try finding every part for it. You will see there are very little for what they do still sell. TA's site has a bad webmaster and is poorly done and rarely updated well. The site is all hype and marketing. If you look closely, there's only a few Track Race Grade expensive kits that are worth anything. TA rests on their Old Race heritage/laurals. That's how TT sees it. TA has been poorly mismanaged by TT. A shame, because TA put surface RC on the map many years ago.
My spin.

 

[Megasty]

At least I'm not the only one who thinks the old Apex was a giant turd.

I had one, but the suspension was so bad it was undriveable. The ball connections had too much slop out the box. I had to put tape on the ball joints. The Apex2 has actual camber links but I would go HPI or Arrma before touching that. But my Limitless owns the parking lot. It would be hard to go back down to smaller street rides, especially overpriced brushed stuff.

 

[slick2500]

I had one, but the suspension was so bad it was undriveable. The ball connections had too much slop out the box. I had to put tape on the ball joints. The Apex2 has actual camber links but I would go HPI or Arrma before touching that. But my Limitless owns the parking lot. It would be hard to go back down to smaller street rides, especially overpriced brushed stuff.

You mean this crap?