anyone win using the 8 point +3 trade route option

There isn't much point in the extra trade routes. You can only have a maximum of 10, and technologies can bring you to that without the starting bonus. As for preventing them from attacking, ignore social projects for a while, focus on tech and military (for colony ships), and don't be afraid to overspend. Research Comm Theory -> Universal Translator -> Diplomacy (accept the government switch for the bonus) -> Trade, and EXPAND EXPAND EXPAND!

~SDC~

This is very over priced.

Your trade income is the sum of all trade routes to your planets, not just yours. These 3 extra routes therefore may add only a few extra percent to your income for a whopping 8 point cost. Later in the game you'll reach the trade route limit and it'll be useless. Even worse, the other races get the benefits of the trading as well (assuming you trade with them) and so they get extra income for free. Far better to spend the points on somthing else like +econ or +trade

Paul.

~SDC~

The pick is overrated for 2 reasons:
Start game, it doesn't help you as you don't have trade tech. You must research it in order to profit from your picks (same problem with the +trade picks here).
Worse: end game, your bonus is lost as soon as you reach 10 trade routes. Sure, it allows you to bypass one or two techs late game, but still, you lose the bonuses you had in the mid game.

Overall, it's a very bad pick in my opinion. You have to build or buy 5 freighters in order to benefit from it, at a time where you will also want to either build a military or pay the ai in order to avoid war.
The only option which would make the pick interesting would be to turtle and use the freighters as scouts, so that you can trade as soon as you meet the ai, which thus remains neutral. This requires medium, large or bigger maps, on which trade is not that important for your revenue, so overall, I think it's a no-go.
I believe + trade is a solid pick on smaller maps, however, as it pays for all the game and doesn't require extra effort from your part to benefit from it.

no. in fact, I have been trying to minimize reliance on trade so my economy doesn't go into the flusher at the end when I face the last AI. This came I found a far-flung minor to trade with, losing the diplo bonus of course . . . but I did find 4 (count 'em 4!!) econ resources within range.

I don't get the extra trade routes, but the extra trade revenue has made me a very rich rich man.

I've played games, even in small universes just rolling in the money. Of course then you have to find a productive use for that money...

The other thing is, if you skip developing those +Route techs, then you can't trade them to the AIs for other fun things. I can often get Advanced Battle Armor (cost 4000) plus one to three small techs for Trade Organizations (cost 1800).... By the time I'm getting Trade Org and Conglomerates my diplomacy will get me about a 2.5-to-1 ratio on the value of a trade, and I can do the same trade with 3 to 5 aliens. And, if you're positioned well, they'll send their new trade route to you, so you benefit even more!