OK guys, perhaps I have phrased this wrong (my reading comprehension isnt great so my writing skills could very well suck too :lol: ). I would like the initial investment to be around $500 (for the RTR kit), the rest of the stuff I'll pony up for, not a problem. I'm certainly not a rich guy but I make enough to buy some decent stuff, just not willing to drop $1500 or a car that may end up seeing more bashing than racing (though I've never bashed a car before so it will probably collect dust instead).

The cars I'm really looking at are the Hyper PBS RTR, the Sportwerks RTR, and the Jammin RTR. I want a platform that can be upgraded to an upper level car if it (the sport) takes off down here. I believe the Jammin and Hyper meets that criteria perfectly, not sure about the Sportwerks as of yet. The PBS from ace hobbies runs $409 right now and has most everything I'll need to get by. Will have to pick up two cheap battery packs (to match the cheap starter box), a cheaper peak charger (959 Brain I imagine), some glow plugs, a better steering servo (tried the 645s on another car, junk in my opinion. Airtronics for me. Might try the JR 85oz unit, think its only 40 bucks), and a receiver pack (a nice one). Hopefully the LHS is carrying some decent fuel now, only Traxxas stuff before. I can always grab that when I'm up in Cali though. For $625 after shipping I could get everything I needed to be up and running.