Team Losi Racing 8IGHT-T 4.0 (nitro)

The kind of vehicle the maker sells it as. It sets what the car is built to do and which cars it is fair to compare it with.

• A truggy is a 1/8 buggy with wider arms and truck tires: more stable and more forgiving on rough ground.

All four wheels are driven. That gives more grip under power, especially on loose ground.

• The cost is more parts to maintain.

A small two-stroke engine running glow fuel (methanol, nitromethane and oil).

• It needs fuel, a glow igniter and some tuning.
• It has no motor KV or battery rating.

A kit you build yourself from parts.

• Most kits come without motor, ESC, servo, radio and battery, and many without tires or a painted body.
• The manual lists what to add.

The maker's nominal size compared with a full-size vehicle. It works more as a class label than a measurement.

• A 1/10 monster truck is far bigger than a 1/10 touring car, so compare length and weight for real size.
• This one is 476 mm long.

The maker's product number for this exact version.

• A V2, a new color, or a kit instead of an RTR usually has a different number, and parts can differ between them.
• Check it against your box or receipt before ordering parts.

On a nitro car the gear on the engine is the clutch bell.

• Its teeth work like a pinion's: more teeth gear the car taller, for more top speed and slower acceleration.

The large gear the pinion drives. A bigger spur with the same pinion gears the car shorter.

• Pinion and spur must have the same pitch, or tooth size, to mesh.
• On a nitro car the clutch bell drives it.

Every reduction after the spur, multiplied together: transmission, differentials and axle gears.

• It is fixed by the design; the gearing you change is the pinion and spur.

How many times the motor turns for one turn of the wheels. A higher number is shorter gearing: more acceleration and pulling power, less top speed.

• Among 1/8 truggies in the catalog, the middle half run between 13.8:1 and 15.7:1 on stock gearing; this one is 16.7:1, shorter than most.

The outside diameter of the mounted tire, tread to tread. A taller tire covers more ground each turn, which gears the car taller.

• Race tires wear down over a day, and a smaller tire gears the car shorter.

An engine has no KV rating.

• Nitro engines are sized by displacement in cubic inches, such as .21.

An engine car has no drive battery.

• A small receiver pack or a BEC powers the radio and servos.

An engine has no KV, so a theoretical top speed cannot be worked out from the gearing alone.

Overall length as the maker states it, usually with the body fitted.

• Useful for comparing real size, since scale labels are loose.

Overall width as the maker states it, usually with the body fitted.

• A wider car is more stable in corners and harder to roll over.

Overall height as the maker states it, usually with the body fitted.

• Useful when checking it fits a shelf, a bag or a car trunk.