I had an Optima Mid and a JRX2 in middle school. Good cars. I hung on to my childhood recollection of good cars and decided I must have a Mugen. Well after building a new MBX6 I'm selling it in favor of running a Losi 8 and 8T, although Losi isn't the company they used to be they still do build nice cars that are easy to get parts for.
In the 1/10 arena honestly I don't think it gets better than AE, the T4 and B44 are amazing cars (truck) and easy/cheap to get parts for.