Xray XT8 2009 Spec – 8 for 09
Xray released their 2009 Spec edition of their successful XT8 truggy some time ago but although it hit the market a few months back it is still one of the quickest and best equipped truggies out there. We take a look at the innovations that went into the 2009 Spec and tell you, why Xray’s XT8 is a hot ticket for racers and bashers alike.
The basic design of the XT8 goes back a couple of years when the Slovakian company released their first nitro off-road buggy, the XB8. Based on its proven platform, Xray released the XT8 truggy in May 2007. The long-awaited truck made a big impact on the racing scene as it combined the proven Xray quality and Juraj Hudy’s very clear and intelligent way of designing rc racing cars.
As time went by Xray released several option parts to make the XT8 even tougher, faster and nicer. These then went straight into the current XT8 2009 Spec edition of the truck. While the ‘2007 Spec’ showed a lot of machined and black anodised T6 aluminium, the 2009 truck made use of Juraj’s latest design ideas in terms of graphite instead of aluminium. Several new parts like CF front and rear shock towers, radio and centre diff mounting plate as well as a CF steering plate found their way into the truck. To compete with the current breed of racing truggies, Xray’s XT8 increased in length and width thanks to a longer chassis plate and ‘+5 mm’ offset wheel hexes. New ‘big bore’ shocks known from the all new XB808 buggy are the cherry on the cake as they replace the previous ‘small diameter’ shocks.
Other refinements such as harder clutch springs, new CNC machined engine mounts, several new turnbuckles as well as lightweight wheel axles, universal joints and matching universals completed the updated 2009 Spec truck.
Front
The front of the 2009 Spec XT8 underwent the most updates compared to the previous truck. The long lower wishbones remained the same but Xray did away with the ‘triangle’ upper wishbones in favour for a simple construction consisting of ball cups and long 75 mm turnbuckles. This speeds up roll centre changes as the inner ball cup mounts directly to the shock tower meaning the position of the inner pivot point is adjustable by loosening a nut and a screw. With the ‘old’ XT8 this was a task of detaching the front shock tower or the rear upper suspension mount.
A big change to the previous truck are the 2009 big bore shocks with that are specially designed for the truggy in terms of length and shock pistons used. Just like the 2009 and 2010 spec XB808 buggy the shocks come with rubber boots for the shock shafts preventing them from becoming dirty and grimy in muddy or dusty conditions.
The remainder of the front set-up is untouched from the previous truck. The gear differential is equipped with a hardened 43T bevel gear, ‘long’ hardened outdrives and a 10T input gear. Xray supplied 7000 cSt silicone oil which seems to be a good basic set-up. From stock the XT8 2009 Spec comes with a 2.4 mm anti-roll bar up front that keeps the truck nice and flat in fast corners. The steering is unchanged compared to the 2007 Spec truck, beside a carbon fibre steering plate that now offers two instead of three different steering Ackermann positions. The thick carbon fibre shock tower offers more inner positions for the roll-centre as now the inner ball cup is attachable to five different holes.
