You'll likely go try a few different brands before you find the one you really like. I had more than my fair share of "3 race cars"

Tekno: really good rotation everywhere. Jumps well. Sometimes a little twitchy on a blown out track. Shocks were sub par quality, sticktion was the biggest problem mostly. Not a very plush car. Limited tuning.

Mugen: Good ground game. But I hated it's shocks with a passion. Just couldn't make it work for me. Fragile arms. Excellent gears and drives. Crazy huge tuning changes had little effect on how the car handled.

Kyosho: Big and heavy feeling. Worked fine everywhere, but never felt "cutting edge". Olde school safe bet. Excellent shocks. I'm not sure I liked it's suspension travel on the ones I tested. But I'll bet I can fix that. Body looks like an up-side down kitchen sink.

AE & Losi: Not going there anymore. They eat parts.

Hotbodies: Haven't got my hands on their new car.

JQ: Kyo copy. Nothing wrong with that. Goofy lack of CVD's.

Serpent: I hated owning that car. It's fast everywhere, but never goes exactly where I wanted it to. I was always chasing the car and track conditions. Always fighting it, as it went for tight to loose, then tight again, 3 or four times per lap. It was like driving 2wd buggy, where you're just trying to survive and make a clean lap, not really racing anyone. Excellent, almost Xray, parts quality. I think this car had a nasty rear weight bias, and like the poster above said, I don't think that's for sportsman level racers like us.

Xray: My current ride. Most durable and adjustable car I've owned. Really sensitive to tire choice though. Also sensitive to setup changes. (It's easy to screw it up) Best shocks I've tried yet. But I would convert an XB8 to electric rather than buy an Xb9 at this point. Most complete kit as well. I think I changed the servo arms to Hitec plastic arms, everything else is stock.