The RC8.2E would be a much better choice if you want to get into racing in the future. That's a very fast class to get started in, though. The SC8.2E would be good for bashing, but I have never seen a single one raced before. The class just never took off. I also saw you mentioned the SCTE. For $500, you can have one RTR and hit the track with that and it's practically bulletproof out of the box. If you are new, and new to racing I would recommend this as it is a great way to get started without being too much to handle at first. You could later graduate to the 8th scale buggy.