I have been driving 1:8 Off road for more than 25 years. A couple of years ago I was pretty good
Nowadays I just do it for fun. I have two small kids now and I just don't have enough time to invest in RC racing. I'm driving about 6-7 races a season here in Sweden. When my first kid was born I tried to stop racing, but it was impossible... some strange force drove me back to the track. I might be addicted to the smell of nitro 
Anyway, for many years I drove for a team that ran Mugen cars and Novarossi engines, but for this year they just concentrated on the engines so I could drive any car I wanted to.
Since many of my closest friends decided to drive Associated, that's what I decided to do as well. Since they practice a lot more than I do I planned to steal their set-ups
First race. A flat track with very good grip. The Ass was awesome. So quick compared to the Mugen. I was really happy with it after the first race.
Second race. Small track with many jumps. Great grip in the practice rounds and the car was very quick, but I had problems in the jumps. Then came the rain, and after it had stopped the grip was more normal... and I just couldn't make the car go well. I lost the rear end grip all the time. Tried lots of things but the car was so hard to drive. I didn't enjoy racing
Third race.The closest track to my home town. A standard track with some jumps. Some concrete passages and a very tight part with lots of turns in the middle. Same problems with the car here. No grip in the rear. Tried different diff oils, damper oils etc etc. But no. To me it looks like Ass built a quick front half of the car, but for some reason they forgot to build a quick rear half.
The quality of the car was another issue. I actually didn't break anything during these three races, but it didn't feel as tough as what I was used to after driving the Mugen. And I didn't like working with it. Some strange solutions here and there. Some good ones as well of course.
So after this third race I figured out I must do something.
Struggle with this car for the rest of the season or buy a new one. As I said, I just do this for fun. The result is not that important, but the two last racec have not been fun.
So what car to choose?
Kyosho.. good stuff. Have been driving Kyosho before I went to Mugen... but they have a new car coming out soon and I don't want to buy an outdated one..even if it's quick.
Mugen.. same there. New car coming out soon so I don't want to get the old one. And I wanted to try something new.
HoBao.. will also have a new car coming out soon... and for some reason I don't like the look of the 8.5.
Losi... Yes, perhaps. It looks good on the track and many quick drivers here in Sweden are driving it. If it hadn't been for the Xray, this would have been my choice.
New XRAY. I have only seen one on track but it looked good, and I know Xray is quality stuff, so after reading some forums...like this one... I decided to go for it.
Yesterday I took it out to the track for the first time. Same track where I drove the last race. Pretty much the standard set-up but 1.4 holes in the shocks and Ass oils.
Out on the track. Great feeling in the first jump.. dive into the first corner, wow, it's quick. Right up to the concrete turn...and roll.... hmm this setting is way too soft for this part of the track. Into the pit. Changed to grey/blue shock springs. Lowered the car slightly, and out again.
Yess.. this is it.
The tight part with lots of turns where the Ass was so slow... I can tell you, the Xray was flying here. I was almost laughing while driving. I lost the grip in the rear a bit, just like with the Ass.. the difference is that with the 808 I could handle it. Just gave it some more throttle and it went right back to where it should be, instead of the "Ass-way" putting the nose in the wrong direction of the track.
And the jumps... Xray built an aeroplane...or possibly a cat. This thing is flying..and it always lands on all 4 wheels. Amazing.
The track was in pretty good condition, but I'm having a feeling that it's handling the bumps really well.
The only negative I can say is that it was flipping over more than the Ass. Probably because I had a higher ride height on this one. I tried to lower the car to get away from this, but then it worked much worse in the jumps so I went back to something just below the standard setting. I will do some more testing.
First race on july 18-20. Swedish championships in Stockholm. I can't wait!