Buy the engine that has the best support in your area. If that's OS, get an OS. If it's novarossi, get a novarossi. If it's Picco, get a Picco.

If you have people near you to help tune it and who can offer parts, you'll be better off than most people who buy simply for the greater power. If your engine can't stay running, you can't use that extra 0.1 hp... Catch my drift?

To be real, torque curve is the most significant thing to look at in a nitro motor, particularly if you drive in tight tracks. I think this is fairly universal for nearly all forms of racing, offroad and onroad. Unfortunately, virtually nobody offers a torque curve for their engine, so you'd have to base it on reviews.

Just one person's opinion