For what its worth I have Hyper7 TQ Sport, and it does very well. I had both the Hyper8 and Hyper7 TQ in my hands at my LHS when I was going to buy one and went with the TQ. The price difference was a pretty large gap, and I didn't feel that the price gap would make me that much difference in laptimes. Long story shorter, I have broken some parts which ended up in some DNF's. Even still, I don't think I would have had any less with the Hyper8 to be perfectly honest. Since I replaced what seemed to be some minor weak links. IMO the TQ does very well around the track even with the stock MS .28. I'm looking at the two buggies based on entry level weekend racing. Even still, the other week my little TQ held off an 8eight for a Heat 2 win.

So to sum it up, until you reach the big time equipment means a lot less than most think, it all boils down to how you can drive it. Well, thats at my low level anyways.