Yes the IB's are alot stronger... but they are alot less durable. At least with the GP cell you dont have to chuck out more bread to protect your investment. Who would ever imagine that we would be back to adjusted amp rate charging and temp cutoffs?! I think both cells are great... the current IB's are definitely better for voltage/IR... but the average club racer with a 50$ charger would be unwise to invest in them. If cell tech hadnt developed so rapidly in the past year this wouldnt be an issue, the average racer could pony up for the expensive charger AFTER the initial learning curve of racing. The $$$ "saved" through matcher competition is absorbed by replaced support equipment... so where are the so called "savings"? Not to mention cells purchased as little as two months ago are the Pentium II's of R/C. So if every few months a newer, faster, less IR cell is released... is it really doing the industry any good... regardless of the manufacturer?? The facts are this hobby has less people involved than ever before... local tracks come and go like "workers" on Hollywood Boulevard... and classes are sparse by comparison. I remember single class E mains in offroad in the early 90's at local CLUB RACES. And multiple tracks, even here on the east coast, were within an hour of your local track. Im sorry but, if the same energy put into "my cell is better than yours" was placed into regulation of the hobby... then we might actually have a better hobby... in the long run. Just my .02c.
- DaveW