Discontinued Pzero bodies might be a step in the right direction: sometimes companies actually listen to those rooting for the spirit of the class...Although they might release an even faster Usgt body, as long as it looks real......Cheers and see you all at the track VERY soon.......

Thanks guys! Picked up a Hobbywing XR10 Justock esc, Reedy 21.5 motor, New Wave 50C 5200mah Lipo battery, a really inexpensive lipo charger just to get started, and a few connectors from my local track. Owner was super friendly and helpful, even tested my 18 year old JR servo for me to make sure it still works. Will be putting everything into the car for its maiden run in the next day or so.

Are there any essentials that I need or should know about? Is a camber gauge useful? Any special tools I should get? I have a 30w soldering iron for the connections. I'm putting an Amazon order in tomorrow for a few things and might as well take advantage of some Prime free shipping.

Highly recommend a setup board and station

I'm painting up my third Mx-Stang right now. I can't think of a body that has more front end clearance than this one. Purely subjective, but if I can help with a measurement of some kind, let me know.

Tires, tire sauce, spare transmitter batteries, a body(s), double sided tape, body clips, spurs, pinions, shock oil, diff oil, springs, temp gun, tools, and a few chassis parts depending on your skill level and track layout. With the faster 21.5 speeds, when you hit things, you tend to break things.

The HPI GT-R R34 body has tons of underhood space. It even clears an off-road transmission (the FF03 has a TRF201 transmission in it..) It's a $31 body on amazon... But I keep being told it's slow. Hah.

As for "what you should have for racing" I always have a spare set of knuckles, (Uprights and steering parts) and for USGT a spare set of wheels and tires. I crack the wheels all the time. (I'm yet to wear out a set.. actually..)

That's why I always glue my own on better wheels. Gravity tires are fine, wheels suck. Tamiya or speedmind for the win. I always wear my tires out and don't come unglued when you do it yourself.

I'll need to ask the local track if running my own rims is kosher. If so... got some wheel models you recomend?

At that time when it started at Norcal Hobbies, they had a lot of TAMIYA 190mm Lancer bodies for $5 each (old stock)

It is frowned upon running anything other than the gravity ready to go wheel and tire sets. I doubt anyone will tell you that you cannot race but I wouldnt recommend it.

USGT wheel rule....

Wheels- Any 24mm - 26mm spoke (non-dish) type wheel.

Notice why I just said its frowned upon not illegal. The reason being is that you can run a different insert if you mount them yourself and besides ruining a set of tires their would be no way to police it. I personally dont care I just know that you will here rumors and scuttlebutt running anything other than the "norm" I think running a different insert would be a very big handling advantage if you got it right.

anyone using a non stock insert is putting themselves at risk of embarrassment/public shaming/dq if they ever cut a tire exposing the insert.
i used to dislike the stock inserts since they turned to mush over time, but that was on grey carpet. On black carpet, i'm retiring my tires long before the inserts decay since the tires get too grippy when they start to get round.
fwiw, i use jaco wheels. They are much more reliable than the gravity wheels, and their beveled inner rim provides more clearance for amx lower control arms.

I prefer mounting my own tire and using non-Gravity wheels as well. Back when you could only get the white six-spoke premounts, the wheels were very brittle. Threw away a few perfectly good tires with broken wheels. If you run an Xray, be careful which Tamiya wheels you buy. I have bought a couple of 24mm (medium) wheels from Tamiya that the back side of the spokes hits the nub on the rear hub where the setscrew holds the lower hinge pin. I have been told, "use a dremel and it'll be ok". I haven't. +1 on the SpeedMind wheels. They come in sets of 8 from RCMart. The Exotek wheels are very similar. Not sure if he still sells them or not.