NO!
DON'T get the 4-tec. It's pretty fast out of the box, but that's pretty much all it's got going for it. It has crappy handling, so it wouldn't be very good AT ALL for racing, even just a driveway racer. You'll regret getting one if you get it, so look around some more before you go down that dark road. I don't know about their durability, but I do know that their handling SUCKS and they're pretty much laughed at by racers. Plus, they're not that upgradeable.