Here's my take on this. I've been flying my '8 for 15 years and 1000 hours now. There is a buffet that occurs just prior to a stall. Having performed hundreds of hours of aerobatic flights I'm used to feeling it. In my opinion, this is a perfect pre-stall buffet. Many certified aircraft with bad stall and/or spin characteristics have strips attached to their leading edges to induce a pronounced buffet well before stall speed. The '8 design just worked out that way by accident. Personally, I don't mind having a pre-stall warning buffet.