Back to the question, which is better, they both have good and bad points. But if you want to race it, you might want to add a new radio and steering servo to be competitive. Over time, you will want to add a 2 speed to the NTC3. The 4-tec is a hard car to work on, everything that seemed to wear out or brake on mine took 30min to repair. The NTC3 is easy to work on and has more aftermarket companies building parts for it. If you look at the cost of rtr with upgrades vs getting a kit and building one, it works out that the kit is the way to go. So if you ever think you will upgrade later on down the road, get the kit and put the cost up front. I see a lot of people come to the hobby shop and get the RTR cars. In a few weeks, they are frustrated because they broke something and want "warranty" to fix it when they were running full out and smaked a curb or something. Also if you get a kit, you build the car and that is education on fixing it. SO, BACK to the original. If I had a chis, between the 4-tec or NTC3, NTC3.....RTR or Kit, it is a better car.