Tamiya mini's are what they are. They aren't meant to compete against high caliber touring cars, and that's fine. Major companies like Xray have made excellent miniature touring cars that are "Mini Killers", yet the 17 year old M03 is still being sold and the T1M is now displayed on my shelf next to my TA03FS (which is probably the closest thing to a TRF mini).

Interestingly enough, TCS has not been in Canada for a while and mini racing is still running strong. I don't know what it is, but there's just something attractive about these Tamiya mini's that doesnt get old.