The TC pool is drying up real quick... You mention 3 possible cars that have zero support in most places.... The only hobby shops that carry Xray or (high end) Tamiya are one's that already cater to the racers. My LHS carries Xray parts only because we (the racers) requested them to. The only 2 cars a newbie can go in and buy to start out with are the 4tec or the TC4 RTR. The 4tec has no hope to be hopped up and raced competitively and the TC4 is about to be replaced... Personally, I still recomend a TC3 to people just starting out... Once the 4 cell crowd gets their way you won't be seeing much in the way of new people entering on road racing...