Diffuser, thanks! I'll be trying both kit suspension and LW this weekend hopefully.

Far as cleaning the gease out of the bearings, if the bearing are of high quality, it shouldn't make much difference. Bearing with no grease, if it's built to tight tolerances, should spin for a while, quietly with no wobble (Boca ceramic 10x15 spins litterally forever). I've got 4 kit 5x11 that are completely seized, out of the box, and two 10x15 that barely moves. Crappy bearings usually come with TON of grease in it, like kit bearings. However, when you have to clean them for the first time, or grease wears out (assuming you didn't clean and re-lube at build) you're going to be stuck with wrecked bearings.

I've been trying to get other people in my area to run this car as well, but it's kinda hard to tell them, yea, spend $350+ on this kit, and sorry, but you'll probrably have to spend another $50+ to get decent bearings for it. Tamiya kits aren't getting any cheaper, but saving money on bearings seems to be a bad idea.