[MetalMan]

IMO, if you can swing the hybrid rear brake setup with a mini servo (like Hitec 5245MG) then it's worth it. A year or two ago Mike and I had this discussion, and it was concluded that I was gonna try it out at some point. The perfect buggy for this came along, the SH ZMXB-8 (it's also the LRP buggy), since it has the rear brake mounted on the rear differential.

Long story short, my buggy has had this setup running reliably for well over a year now. With my radio (Nomadio React) I am able to use the thumb wheel to alter the strength of the rear mechanical brake at any time. So if I want the rear to slide more, I dial it in.

This setup has proven quite effective for me, because I can pitch the buggy sideways and get on the throttle like you could with full mechanical brakes. And it's nice too because the motor still does a lot of the braking, where the motor brake strength can also be adjusted on the fly.

Since my buggy, I've set up 3 other Z-Car vehicles (two buggies and one truggy) with this same hybrid rear mechanical brake. None of the owners own radios with the same capabilities of mine, so they have to manually adjust brake bias. So far as I know, all of them have been satisfied with the hybrid brake.