I ran the stock plastic hubs that came with the factory team kit and they melted!! (Wish I had a picture, it was cool, sort of) I replaced them with Hardcore Racing outdrives to help out the shop owner who is a friend of mine, he wanted honest, working feedback on them. I would recommend using the Associated aluminum replacements since they are at the exact same specs as the kit requires. (Since they are the ones who designed the kit in the first place) Hardcore work just fine, but it's almost always to get it from the original source. As for a concern about less weight, it should at a tic more speed since it is less roatating mass.