"those guys are serious pros though" - now they are, after serious practice time! Practice with a purpose, mark out spots where you want to be on the track and practice, practice, practice and practice some more and before you know it you're sliding like a pro! At one time I couldn't slide my car if I shot it out a cannon, but got together with guys who were serious about control, taught me how to hold an intended line and now they let me stay on the track for a few minutes! lol

I hear you on the tires, mounting some tires require some ingenuity and patience. I use the clamp method and gokemidoro's trick, I also drop a bit of hot glue in the wheel and they stay on with no problems. Raikou is working on a higher profile DXPE tire as well as other compounds. A higher profile DXPE will probably last about 10 years! lol can't wear them down with a grinder!

The tires were due out this month but the disaster in Japan has put the brakes on the tooling and material. They are working with another source, but keeping pricing down is the main concern, who wants to spend a lot on tires, save that cash for bodies, bling and electronics!

PS - don't toss out the ABS, they work on carpet, if you ever get to drift on it or for small technical layouts where you want to do tight sync tandems.