Starting a new design from ground up is very risky. Xray was close to do it with the 808 with so much change in 1 years.
That sometime I'm thinking to use a 1/10 scaled up to 1/8 (most likely a B44 or a TRF501). It will be probably much lighter and offer a superior handling.
If you want to seee some ultra old French design of 1/8 scale
http://www.communaute-siccom.fr/index.php
(1/8 off road scale is the king class for more than 20 years in France)