The 1/8th offroad race vehicles do not have 2 speed transmissions, but they are popular because they are a little bigger, accelerate MUCH quicker, are quite easy to drive relatively fast, and can take much more abuse than the 2wd Stadium trucks. I have sold my AD2 because gas truck died at my club track, but I have spent less on broken parts on my buggy, BUT overall more $$ per month on worn parts like clutch shoes, diff cases, diff and shock oils (use quite a bit more than the tiny stadium truck shocks). I have broken less than $20 worth of parts on my buggy since I bought it 7 months ago, HOWEVER I only race every 2 weeks, for the first 3 months it was driven almost every weekend. Still, I spend quite a bit more on parts for the buggy, especially since the engines I run are generally the most expensive. I replace the conrod after break-in ($50)... In reality, I have had much more fun driving the buggy as I am not as worried about tapping the pipes and breaking like I and others would with gas truck.