XRAY - Model racing cars

Hi guys just got my 808 09 version, what should we be changing and what hop ups should i get?

Like i had a xray t2009 and had to change front roll centres and front wishbone shims to 1.15 from kit standard which improved car no end.


Thanks for help and advice


Chris Griffiths

All i did was add the two piece engine mount to make it quicker on race day to look at clutch bell bearings, Added the captured hinge pin kit front and rear and am real happy with the way it goes, I prefer the Plastic hubs and all that sort of stuff its more forgiving.....

What are your priorities with the 808? For an example I wanted to keep the car as light as possible without spending much. Unfortunately almost half of the upgrades make the car heavier. I don't see any point of using them for that reason. I run stock 808 with some 09 updates and its now 7 full races incl A-mains without any breakage . One diff input bearing blew but even that lasted until the end of the race! My RTR weight is ~3280g with a heavy JC body.

I think only the front shock tower should be upgraded to Aluminum one. If you race and drive clean, the stock carbon is better and about 4g lighter I think. But the alu one last better and won't brake, if you crash heavily, so you can finish with bent front shock tower, not broken one!

In my opinion the stock 808'09 doesn't really have any shortcomings that can be fixed with the upgrade parts. Captures hingepin blocks (ISS) and alu casterblocks give you extra tuning options and make diff maintenence easier. For that reason I would like to have them. But then again the stock plastick blocks are more reliable, because you can break the alu block inserts sometimes quite easily (hingepin goes through them)! So I run with stock plastic ones at the moment. I have had many of the Xray upgrade parts on XB8 and XT8 and don't miss any of them at the moment .

I recommend the getting DE Racing rear skidplates (pack of 3) and front bumper. It protects the chassis plate nicely and front bumper is stronger and lasts longer. Oh... get the alu wing washers!

Good luck with the car, you'll love it. Others won't like you, because you go fast and don't break Buy fuel for training and lots of tires for racing for the money saved on the upgrades

I would get the ally braces that sit under the rear wing and high tensile screws for the upper shock mounts (stock ones bend) and the four in the rear wing supports,may only be me but I've had them snap off flush with the gearbox a few times.
The rest i would spend on the tuning parts like 12, 14 and 16 deg caster blocks, xb8 rear anti roll bars (full set) 808 front roll bars and springs. That should take care of any spare cash laying around

As said, captured hinge pins make life MUCH easier if you like to tweak setups trackside.

1 piece mount is great

Anything else is mainly for bling - I belive the front alloy shock tower is no heavier than the carbon one (according to a team driver who's weighed most of the options), maybe even a gram lighter from memory - either way, there's no need to change it till your stock one takes a hammering. I've got an alloy one sitting in my spares for when my de-laminating stock one finally snaps!

The hardened coated balls and stand offs give a small weight reduction, plus they're hard as nails. Also the carbon upper plate and centre diff top plate are nice

Stick to the plastic steering and caster blocks for maximum forgiveness on landings - if you go alloy then probably one or the other is advisable, but not both together unless you're a fantastic driver or the track is very smooth

I've fitted the alloy wing mounts and wing washers, purely because I had a spare set of the wing mounts from my old XB8EC - the wing washers were new out so I fancied them for a bit of bling

The new alloy upper turnbuckles are nice - good weight saving on them too.

Other things to consider are the 41t front bevel gear or active diffs