[mes]

After driving the truck for the last two weekends at Arena 33, I can see that that parts listed by Bent would have come in handy to unleash the XT2's full potential on carpet, as would the protoype carbon fibre front stiffeners seen in some EOS coverage. I don't want to say 'told you so', but I would have preferred a one-piece chassis alone for the fact that there is no space in the truck to put in some sticky weights in front of the servo. Another thing I would have liked to try was running the rear shocks in front of the shock tower, which is not possible with the nice kit body. I guess I have to try if that JConcepts T4 Finnisher body in my cellar can be made to work...(Edit: front end too short.)
Durability is a big plus, with the exception of the spoiler. Be sure to add some wing buttons or an extra layer of scrap Lexan under the mounting screws if you tend to flip over the truck as often as I do; that's an issue on any ST, though.
Yes, I am still convinced that the XT2 currently is the gold standard of carpet ST racing, but I am also sure that competitive racers will not be happy for long without checking off Bent's to-buy list. I like the truck quite a lot, but I am still contemplating whether to commit more funds into it or not, not least due to the fact that the popularity of ST varies a lot between meetings and literally duelling an entire weekend is not that much fun. At least there seems to be a full grid at the next two races I registered for, EOS Rd 4 and NORC Rd 1.
Update on durability: The front sway bar/body mounting plate and the rear body posts seem to be weak points for drivers of various skill levels. Also, I had an odd incident in which I slipped sideways into a fence and broke both the front and rear roll centre mounts. With the long arms on a stadium truck, I expected to break those parts before long, but both at the same time was a bit of a surprise. As my racing season will be over soon due to work, I sold the truck just a few days after fixing all of the above issues I experienced myself. For me, the XT2 must be the most controversial kit in almost 30 years into RC: I think it is a really good product, but I am glad it is gone...