The problem with onroad right now is the complexity of the cars and speed.
With offroad you can buy a rtr or race roller and car works pretty good out of the box for a new or budget racers. Basically keep it in one piece and select the correct tires a racer can have ENJOYABLE time with the vehicle. He/She is not going to win the nationals with it but they have fun and COME BACK.
With onroad racing the cars are hugely complex for a new racer or budget racer. Small misteps in assembly or maintenance will make car undriveable on the track. The racer DOES NOT HAVE FUN and as such DOES NOT COME BACK.
This is the inherent problem with onroad racing...been around long time seen the show got the tshirt. Story has not changed over the past 2 decades. Does not matter if electric or nitro.
I thought the GT Spec class was going help but really has not. Alot of people buy the GT cars from local shop but most are just not that interested in organized racing.
The other issue with GT class is it is a different chassis..what happens when 3 guys show up to race? Is that fun for anyone? So now the new racer has made big investment in the car and has no one to race with...he is back out to parking lot.
Speed is other issue. Cars are just to fast for new racer or even veterans that don't have budget be it time or $ for onroad.
I think the Europeans have interesting concept with spec engines in 1/8 onroad. They use 5port budget engine (I think 3 port would be even better). I think this would be a great way to go as you now have the investment in chassis and they can move up to open class or if you dont have enough entries they can run in the open class. Slows the cars down so new and veteran racers can have good time.
The RCGT concept has worked pretty good at local carpet track and it has proved hugely popular and brought back old face and more importantly kept NEW faces at the track. I think the main reason due to the fact that it uses the SAME CHASSIS as the open classes and it is SLOWER. So now the racer has investment in chassis that he can learn with and move up to open class.
Jamie