The "you get what you pay for" line so often repeated only applies sometimes, but it is very far from a universtal rule. There are tons of exceptions. Especially in nitro engines for ex., IMO(bashing AND racing..) There are dozens of good options in the $200 range, and yeah, some engine that costs twice as much might be "better" to some small degree, but not the degree reflected in the price difference. I have kind of an engine fetish now, and have reached the point where I pretty much only buy stuff that comes along really cheap. If I lived in the States for ex. I'd snap up that Nvision 521 Race from Amain in a heartbeat.. Why pay more?

More and more what I notice is that - again, in both racing and bashing - the person setting up and running the gear makes a much bigger difference than just the brand name. People buy $400 Novarossis and RB's and OS Speeds, but these high-dollar engines won't really outperform something much cheaper if the owner doesn't really know what he's doing. Whereas some guy with a setup that cost half as much, but who really knows what he's doing, can get more performance out of what he has than the guy with the expensive stuff. Just buying expensive is no guarantee that it'll be better. Know-how and experience is more important than brand-name and price.

Applies to chassis' in racing too. Buying an X-ray will not make you faster. Setup and driver skill are so important in 8th scale racing.

Anyway, the "you get what you pay for" mantra is riddled with exceptions.