Like I said, plenty of motors under $400, and speaking from experience, as fast and more reliable.
http://www.amainhobbies.com/index.ph...rh&filter_cat=

i thought this was about tires

lol to much nitro fumes for some

I don't know about Australia or early nineties but in 1999 I got a brand new Picco Integra with a fantastic Picco motor AND pipe/manifold all for 479.99. Can't get anywhere near that cheap now, even staying with the budget stuff.

Tires were about the same though, maybe even a bit more expensive.

I guess we need to factor in the cOst of raw materials are going up as well. Tires's base material are oil and oil prices are up due to unrest in the oil producing countries.

OP also posted about Motors......

The N21-5T we are using on clublevel with a special price from Novarossi Germany and Holland for just 129 euro people are running fast and breaking their own personal lap records. I do keep my fancy pants on

Yep, they do and it's our own fault.

I have the top of the line Flash Tuned Special from last year in my shop for €429, down from €545 last year.

You think anybody wants that engine?

Nooooo. Every average driver, who can't even use the power of these engines anyways needs the newest, meanest and baddest 2011 engine, and they are willing to shell out another €110 for the PTS.

And those are the people that are always complaining how expensive this hobby is.

As I said before, they can only charge, what we are willing to pay

I don't think all the 2011 engines are expensive, from what I have seen the LL3/11 and the Kanga look cheaper than earlier years pricing?.

There's always less expensive engines, if that's good enough for you.

That's exactly what I said in my earlier post.

Problem is, that very few people think they can win with an LL3 (dates back to 2004) or a Kangaroo which dates back to the worlds in Australia.

I saw someone going plenty fast with an 'old' LL3 recently, fast enough to make me realize it will be a long time before I personally need something more than a new version myself.

Not that I'll be doing much more 10th nitro till the MTX5 comes out, till then I'll play with my near new T1, which is not like a dog or anything, I was not doing so bad with it in my MTX4R last time out.

This sport/hobby is only overly expensive if you insist on buying beyond what you can in theory afford, or need...