The LST XXL will give you more speed and ground clearance than a truggy, it will have great handling, and is a easy beast to work on. Truggies are simpler in that they have 3 diffs, which means it will have a 1spd drive. Both are highly tunable, you can tune the diffs an suspension by running different diff fluids, you can swap out shock oils to tune your suspension, both are capable of big air. I forgot to mention that you can really get technical doing suspension set up also, the caster & camber, toe in & toe out, droop, its endless, these things are just like real cars only nore tunable. People say the building experience really makes you better understand the vehicle and how it works, I like rtrs myself, like I said though the radio is top shelf with the LST XXL. You can learn by tearing it down. A lot of guys like to tear their trucks down to put their choice of diff fluids in, and to make sure everything is tight. Some guys pull their motors a part and seal them before running them to make them air tight, air leaks can cause you tunning nightmares. Sealing a motor really improves upon performance. There is so much you can do to a kit or an rtr. I would stay with the big 4 Losi, associated, traxxas and hpi, because it is easier to get parts for them, plus aftermarket hop ups, tons for the savage, many for the losi, and traxxas and AE.