It's cheap looking because....... its cheap!
- The screws in the kit are pure amateur stuff, in fact a newbie will even kill them before even riding one foot.
The screws on the ZX5 were a lot more unforgivable than on the Durga - why? because the Durga actually IS a cheap car and the ZX5 isn't.
- No slipper clutch, meaning extra stress on the gears
the Yokomo BC Special cost 250 ukp (500usd) and had no slipper.
- Shocks look plastic and pretty amateuristic
They are!
But why don't you say that about the other Tamiya cars with the same shocks?
- Chassis is one big part, including molded diff houdings etc... if something breaks you have to replace EVERYTHING...
The XX4 and XXX4 won three world championships with similar chassis. The X5 uses one, the brand new AERO uses one.....
I'm not sure how it's over priced really, since it's 100 quid at least cheaper than the car you've been comparing it to. Maybe when it's got loads of hopups on it sure - but then do you have a 2nd rate car or a good race car?