There's nothing wrong with running the steel spur. I'm not attacking, so quit defending. But thousands of people are running thousands of 1/8th scale buggies and truggies with plastic spurs so it is a viable choice. And don't tell me you won't DNF if your motor moves just because you have a steel spur.When the pinion is no longer meshed with a spur gear, you're done! Lots of people on this forum have asked about plastic(or composite) spur gears for this car and I provided that info. If you feel more secure with steel, that's fine.