Originally Posted by JetMD
If you are going to buy a nitro car to run around on the street or in your local parking lot, I suggest looking for a RTR kit with shaft drive. The problem with belt drive is that a small pebble will get stuck on the pulley and tear up your belts. If you plan on running on any surface that hasn't been prepped for racing, a shaft drive car is your best bet.
Good point and I'd also add that one of the strong points of Traxxas(as much as people hate them), and HPI, maybe Associated too...is that they have very easy to find option parts and replacements.
Try to go to a store and find things for a racing car like Kyosho RRR, Mugen MTX4, Serpent 720 (even 1/8 scales). You will see that not all LHS will carry a ton of parts. They can order it for you, but one thing to remember if you're just running it around on the street etc is that you're going to break things unexpectedly. This is even more true when you are new and still getting used to handling a car. Having a good supply of replacements available locally and easily is helpful.
When you're racing (as I have learned receintly) you will break things, but you know what parts are going to break often (until you're better). That way you can have a few spares on hand for when that happens. With a RTR kit you are bashing with things will break and you'll say "I didn't expect that to break". At least I did.