If your goal is to race at a club and you want to save money, then do yourself a favor and buy a quality kit that already includes all the upgrades up front.

The RTR's cut far too many corners and will leave you very disappointed and will ultimately spend far more money replacing all the junk parts with quality parts that will be more expensive because they are not bundled together like they are in the kit.

The most current release is from TEKNO, the club in my area has a seen a drastic surge in TEKNO kits with that being the most popular buggy by far and large in this area. It offers more tuning options and is arguably the most durable platform on the market today, they also offer a 50% lifetime warranty making the brand the least expensive to maintain over anyone else.

If you are truly on a tight budget, then go electric.... nitro maintenance costs will easily be double the expense of electric.

Good Luck!