ok my friend is buying a duratrax street force GP and is using "build your own combo" at towerhobbies.com and is wondering what radio to select. he has narrowed it down to two the Futaba 2PH and the Futaba 2PHKA. the 2PHKA has "dual rate steering and the 2PH doesn't.....what is dual rate steering and what would you recommend for a intermediate driver who is not looking to competitively race with it...

Definately the 2PHKA. Not only does it have steering dual rates, but it has throttle end point adjustments which are extremely helpful when setting up the throttle. It is worth the extra money.

I totaly agree with the above post. For gas models throtle endpoint adjustment is very handy.

What is throttle endpoint adjustment?
BNZ'

End point adjustment (EPA) allows you to set the amount of travel in each direction independently, unlike dual rates where it is the same for both. This makes it easier for gas since you don't always have the luxury of needing the same throws each way. Sometimes you need more brake, sometimes you need more throttle.

since the brakes and throtle both operate from the same servo it lets you set everything up in a neutral position and then dial in what you wnat/need with the radio as far as servo travel for each function(brake-gas) seperately. Also for gas trucks many racers will run restrictors in the carb to make the vehicle more driveable. I have never done this because I feel that airfilter security is jepordized. I just limit the throtle opening with the EPA/end point adjustment so the throtle only opens about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way. Im no great racer but was 12th out of abround 80-100 gas trucks at races in columbus a couple years ago. I gerneraly see that many drivers say they need to go faster and get faster motors, lighter flywheels,ect.ect. This actually makes them slower because crashes increase. Only about 5 guys out of a hundred can drive consistent laps at full power on a .12 engine. When Im parking lot racing with a buddy I will quickly dial out throtle with the EPA until enough torque is lost that loop outs are only ocassional. It will actually piss him off some what because I can go so extremely slow to show him that my theory is true that my truck can still beat him at even like 1/3 of its full power. rc racing is all about not crashing, loosing serious time. get a radio with EPA and go set up a track with a 100' garden hose for a quick makeshift oval and run some laps. Dial out major amounts of throtle so it takes almost a complete lap to come up to speed and see what happens, most likely you will be able to hold the inside line without messing up for the whole tank. At full throtle you may be looping out every corner or atleast going really wide or something. Not sure how cars would handle but also on a RC10GT, driveline parts wear pretty fast at full power, back the power off just a bit and they last a season.

BBflyer is exactly right, I have placed second in a race before running a RTR XXX NT with the stock motor just because it was a little slower and I was able to control it better on the tight track we were on. I was beat by a CV R which is what I run in my Kit XXX NT so I didn't feel that bad either lol. It is a much stronger motor.