We have local racer Dan Sheetz running a Traxxas 4-tec 2.0 in VTA. He has been very competitive and was qualified 3rd out of 20 cars last week in the A-main. Check out his qualifying run from last Friday. He is the red car starting in the pole position...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHQeDRVQ3-Y&feature=youtu.be
He has put a few Traxxas upgrade parts on the car, but is still using the Traxxas servo, transmitter, and receiver that came with the car. The car is still a bit on the heavy side, but it hasn't been preventing him from being very competitive.