Originally Posted by bakaguyjean

The first Cross chassis with the inboard shocks and link type rear pod is the better of the two. You can chose if you want the battery rear or center mounted. There is a third if you are not aware. It is a mix of the two. It has the newer front suspension with the old link type rear pod. Also you can choose wher you would likethe battery. That being said can you get parts for it? You can not use Tamiya type front suspension arms on any of the Cross chassis. Both of the Cross suspension arms have alot more parts than Tamiya and more can go wrong.Also you really need the alloy bulk heads for the front suspension. They are the frist parts to break. You can use Tamiya style rear pods on the Cross chassis. They are the same size. The Cross alloy pod sides are the same as the Alloy pod sides from Square,just a different color. The first and second chassis does not use a "T" bar so you dont have to worry about it breaking but you have to worry about the rear battery holder snapping in half as the rear pod is anchored to it.

I would just buy a F103 15th chassis if you want to race,and use a Cross as backup. So you can get a feel for it and the parts. All of tires and wheels from Tamiya fit the Cross cars along with alot of other parts but the front suspension on all three do not this could be a problem for you depending on where you live.
All of the Cross chassis are nice and I have one of the 2 1/2 chassis cars but The Tamiya F103 is hard to beat for parts and working correctly %95 of the time.
I to also like a rear mounted battery
Good luck