Check out Maifield - IMO the fastest pro truggy and probably even buggy driver there is - shredding it up with his non-Italian, Asian engine...:
http://vimeo.com/37356265
I am in most ways VERY un-PC. But honestly, the whole "Italian engines are better than Asian engines" is down to nothing more than blind racism. I'm really not a PC tell-people-what-to-think kind of person. But there is no basis in it. LRP actually switched from Picco to OS for their race engines. And as you can see above, Maifield is hauling axx with his Asian engine..
BTW, pretty much ALL kits are produced in Asia.. Do people have these kinds of stupid discussions about electronic motors and components?...
Some of the Taiwanese producers dug a hole for themselves a few years ago with bad carbs and some quality issues for ex. But that was then, and this is now. And now Alpha and Go and co.. are simply producing good quality, excellent value-for-money engines. The curve of improvement in quality and performance with Taiwanese engines in the last few years has been marked.