Opinions Needed Please :)

[BrianG]

Whatever you decide, the first things I like to consider when doing a new build are:

- Parts availability. It's always nice to have a vehicle that will have parts for quite a while. No sense building something that will be obsolete soon.

- Amount of custom work. It's not that most people here don't like making custom parts, it's more about fixing/remaking it when/if it breaks. If a custom part breaks, your day is done and the truck is down until you can remake the broken part. This is fine if you have the files for those parts and a CNC machine to make them, but when your custom work is a one-off part created via dremel tool, it can be a PITA. If you want something you will be using a lot, I would stick to something pre-built and just add the motor mount, battery tray, etc from the RCMonster store. Makes things much easier.

As far as specific vehicle: I would just go with a good buggy of your choice (Ofna, Mugen, etc). They are basically bullet proof, have lots of metal parts where it counts (driveshafts, etc), flat chassis for low COG, strong diffs, etc. A buggy platform can also be used to make a CORR truck with little modification if that's your thing. And they are light enough where 4s on a 2000kv motor is perfect. A MMM/2650 setup on 4s would be a pretty good place to start IMO.

I guess after making a bunch of different vehicles, I've found that vehicles that "stand out" are the ones that stay broken longer because of their unique-ness.