Ya, I hear you on the combination of components working together and totally agree. My motor came with the JLR piston/sleeve originally. I'm not sure if I'm up for the $112 crank gamble or not.

I'm also not so sure the pipes I have are that well suited to the Picco motor(s) but they are the only ones currently available that work on the NTC3. I'd like to get a more current belt drive chassis but I'm not ready to ante up for that just yet. I'm still trying to nail down at least 2 or 3 tracks locally that will be consistently running a 1/10th Nitro sedan class. I'm fairly new to the racing scene (~1yr now, racing both Nitro and electric) and working my way up the ladder.

What I'm trying to decide is what would be my best next step,

1. Buy a proper JLR (EDO tuned?) and keep my current motor for spare parts (mostly piston/sleeve & conrod, their value is equal to what I paid for it). Would it work with the pipes I'm restricted to?

2. Or search for a different motor that will be better suited to the NTC3 chassis, pipes, and tracks (shorter, more technical) I have to work with. If so, which motor?

In the end I'm looking for good, strong, smooth bottom to mid range power, not an outright mid to top end beast.