Diablo is right, the ZDZ's are a good value and you can get them relatively cheaply and I mentioned some of the reasons they are cheap/inexpensive, and all the reason's are not bad. You can get them even cheaper from Europe. To me, price isn't everything and in the case of a Taurus 2.6 vs a ZDZ80, I don't think many people will be putting the ZDZ80 in their GP 33% Pitts or DP Extra 330, or....., but your point is taken. I am not arguing that they don't cost less, if that's the only thing that drives your purchase, it's an excellent reason to buy a ZDZ. I agree they are the best high-end motor...for the price. I would buy one any day over a Zenoah (Opps, I didn't mean to insult Zenoah fans. They are good, reliable engines, and have their applications, but they are heavy and have less power/cc than the higher-end engines we've been discussing).

As far as Dick Hanson's comments on what's coming out in the future, I can't wait, I love technological advancements. I am not blindly defending a brand. In fact, I'm pretty fickle, hardly the type of customer manufacturers like. I buy and promote what I think is best at the time, and right now, I think in the smaller engines(and maybe the bigger ones, I just don't know) the Taurus is by far is the best, as I've said, but it doesn't mean something else isn't going to come out that is better, I just don't believe it is there now.

And Dick, if you think glow engine design is the design of the future for small gas engines for R/C, so be it, but I just don't see that. I agree with you on rotary valves having the most potential(evidentally unrealized so far in the ZDZ's), but that's about it as it relates to glow engine design.

BTW, Pete had an excellent point. I forgot about the Taurus mount. It is a beautifully made, strong, smartly designed mount. It is only 2 oz and is designed to collapse in a crash, helping to absorb energy and save the more expensive pieces of the motor. This is just one more example of the subtle design and engineering details that have gone into this engine to make it what it is.

Bill