Well to be fair, calling it a 'turd' is going to get people's hackles up (like me! ;)) but the issues are being worked out I think. Like any mass-produced item there will be some bad items but overall I think the CDI issue is overblown and most people have been tuning them incorrectly, probably because they're used to tuning nitro engines and/or large scale 25cc+ engines. The tuning knowledge seems to be passing around now as people are getting used to the engine, which is great, and the HPI PDFs and videos help too.

For a bash machine I think this is the perfect vehicle and engine but it remains to be seen if it can be put in something small like a racing/bashing buggy :)