i agree with the statement that in the end a blaster is just a blaster. but the statement that its mostly about the rider is also true. when i first got my blaster, i had never really been on a quad and a friend of mine who has ridden quads and dirtbikes since he was like four would kill me on the track all day long with just his piped 250x, but the longer i rode it the more competitive i got with him until i was beating him and the quad hadnt changed at all. now i'm almost finished with my build and i've only got around twelve hundred dollars in my quad from the day i brought it home. granite i got the quad for free, but it took about two hundred to get it running. so maybe this quad isnt the best quad out there, but i think it would be a good quad for beginners to get and progress on and upgrade as need be, because it can be done for cheap. and with all the upgrades available for this quad, its probably not gonna be something that your average rider can go compete and win the nationals on, but it can be made to be a fast machine