My 8 weighs in at between 8.5 and 9 lbs. w/batts. installed as well. I'm sure my 1515 and RCproduct designs integrated tray make up the majority of the extra lb. Certainly still raceable and competitive at a club level but between the weight and my driving, not so successful on technical tracks against expert drivers. The biggest issue with the extra weight is increasing spring rates and dampening to properly compensate for the extra load and of coarse whether or not your motor has enough torque to overcome it. In the case of my 1515/1y, no problem; couldn't comment on the Novak, though.