Wo, wait a second. The MRC Acaddemy SRT-4 is no slouch and the reason that it didn't run as well in the head to head running is because they didn't change any of them from there box stock form (i.e. no oil/spring changes). The SRT-4 is a good car and as long as you've got spares, your set(as parts arn't in many LHS). I'm sure it could be at the head of the pack if setup and driven correctly.
I don't trust the reviews in RCCA at all. There are alot of times where the reviews are very rushed and they don't get enough time to actually take a day and really work the car and find out what it's really like. (Derek Bruno an ex editor for Rcca said that on this forum a while ago)
A few examples are when they tested the Axis 2 on carpet for the review and when they tested the kx-one in a bombed out parking lot, with some crappy pvc pipe as a test track.