You have a good point on the extra costs but you would have to buy all of those thing (plus a bump box w/battery and charger $100) with a kit as well. I have not driven the Matrix R2 but I have heard good things about it and I KNOW the Hyper 7 is built like a tank so I don't see where you are coming up with the statement that they would have a bunch of DNF's if the went with a lower cost reputable buggy.

If you read my statements earlier, I suggested NOT to upgrade the lower end buggy and just upgrade the servos, remote and engine over time. Then when you have gotten good enough to move up in equipment, all you have to buy is the kit and you will be ready to go. Then you can put all your old equipment back in the cheaper buggy and put it on ebay and get $150 of the original $300 back.

As far as the chassis being a 3 year old platform, who cares??? If you go out and practice it really doesn't matter what you drive at the club level. The driver makes the vehicle perform well, not the other way around. I bet Adam Drake could show up to any local track and whoop everyone with a MBX-4 if he wanted to and that platform is about 10 years old.

I agree that the Spec Slash class is great for new racers. Much cheaper to get into and it does not have the nitro learning curve, but there is just something about burning fuel.....

I understand that it does cost more than just $300 for an RTR kit, but not to a total of $1200. $500 sounds right including all of the extras but it is still was cheaper and easier to get into than a $1500 setup.