RE: "Knockoff" or HPI
HPI, definitely. The Japanese knock-offs can be made to be fairly good vehicles, but only after modification and upgrades. And yes, it is a pain to get parts. I had to wait 7 months for a servo saver. THe warehouse said it was backordered, but then my dad called them and one "magically appeared". 7 months of not running for a 2 minute fix. [:@][:@]
By the way, here's what is on my Smartech Winner 3 (had to do all this to make it o.k.)
O.S. .18 CV-R, two new servos, modded brake setup, and some other stuff, not to mention the replacement parts needed. Get an HPI, every hobbyshop will have parts for it. [8D]