[wallot]

in 1/8 buggy you have center diff and if you use ESC brakes you will brake only one axle thanks to the way center diff distributes power with one axle locked (of course unless you have the diff filled with very heavy fluid)

mechanical brakes will alow you to brake using both axles and tune strenght and bias of braking.

ESC braking allows you to set just how stong the brakes will be.

for serious racing mechanical brakes are probably a must, in rest of the cases ESC braking will be ok.

I'd go for 1/8 truggy as buggies are really just for tracks thanks to very low ground clearance. LSP pro is very cheap and durable truggy.