O.K., here it is, my opinion only, so you are free to take or leave it, but I really had no baseline to operate from, and no one to help me, so this will come from that background, and includes all the mistakes I made:I went for an ARTR HPI Sprint 2 (that is no longer offered), and quickly learned how bad that chassis really was, for the novice drifter, of which I was, at the time. I immediately bought (this, in the span of six months) a Tamiya TA05 VDF kit, that a friend who lives in Japan told me about. This was the first production run, of the first 1,000, so I got it before anyone in the US even knew what a "VDF" was. It went for $270 + shipping, then, and look at what they go for, today, domestically! I'll NEVER pay that for ANY chassis, carbon or no.... Fast forward a couple of years.......I find a Losi JRXS Type "R" kit for sale at my LHS for $200! A carbon chassis TC racer! I bought that sucker without a second thought, and it turned out to not only be a FAST track racer, but an EXCELLENT drift platform, too. Fast forward another six months......Tamiya releases their new TA06. I went and picked up one of those, and found it to be VERY similar to the JRXS-R, and lo and behold, it drives and drifts the same! That was a plastic chassis, and it now has a few conversion kits available for it. I sold it, and rue that day, because I really miss the TA06. I will eventually get another, because it IS a great on-road chassis.Now, All these kits ended up costing me a pretty penny in the long run, but Inadvertently, I put myself on the fast-track learning curve, And seven years later, and many, many kits later, I'm still no pro, by any means, but I do know what works and what doesn't, for my style of driving/drifting, so anything I say to you may not work for you, BUT.....If I may make a few suggestions.....First and foremost, look for a kit (RTR's, while nice, have areas where they go "cheap" to keep the overall costs down, and this is where many just go kit, because a kit allows one to "tailor" their chassis with whatever electronics they want) that has the features you want, as close as it can get. Now some kits might be what are known as "clones," and should be avoided. They will have VERY attractive pricing, compared to the models they are copied from, so this will be a definite red flag. Clones tend to use very inferior materials, and will break with minimal use, sometimes.Try taking a look at some Tamiya kits. There are a few that would fit what you are after, at prices you will find attractive, and I recommend either a TT01e (shaft drive), or, if you are a bit more adventurous, and don't mind the extra expense, an XV01 (belt drive). There is also the TA06, that is in the same price range as the XV01, and it is also a belt drive. Now, electronics will be extra, but you can get away inexpensively, by going to a cheap electronics house like HobbyKing. Drift tires will also be required, and there is really only one source for those, and that's Raikou. You can reach them at raikoudrifttires.com. I recommend one of their combo packs. Their DXPE's are their best sellers, and work almost anywhere. Raikou's prices are also VERY affordable, so that's another plus. Just be advised, that at this point, you will be spending upwards of $600 or maybe more, depending on what kit/components you get, but that really is a baseline, when it comes to RC drifting, and I am looking at it from a perspective of you getting something that will "grow" with you, instead of something you'll have to eventually replace, when your skills improve.