If you're racing at the club level, the TA04R is a good car. Each car has it's own particular handling characteristics. I don't feel that shaft drive alone makes a good car. In my area, a lot of guys race 414's and some of them got Evo3's when they first came out. They aren't any faster with the Evo3. The 414 is arguably the best belt drive car on the market currently, so if shaft drive was that much better, those guys should be faster with the Evo3. Plus, most of the chassis is pretty similar between the two cars. I don't think you can go wrong with any of the "race" chassis cars. I consider the TA04R to be a race chassis car, so I would recommend it if your local hobby shop supports it. You can also race all the sedan classes at TCS with it if you run the tub chassis (GT1, you can use a cf or ssg chassis.) I hope that helps.