[bender]

Having raced both cars back in the day (1988,89) i'll give you a rather lengthy account of what I remember.

The original Cat (the short wheelbase version_ released back in 86 was without a doubt the most technologically advanced 4wd of the time, it really was leagues ahead of anything else. However, in a way it was too advanced, and the average user actually struggled with them somewhat.

Once 1987/88 came around they had refined the car by lengthening the wheelbase (the XL version) then making other updates released on the XLS version. During that period the car was literally unbeatable in most parts of the world, yet still remained a relatively complicated beast.

By 1989, although still a great car, where i raced (Australia, dusty dirt tracks), the Cat now had serious competition from both the Optima Mid series and the Yokomo 870c.

The problem the Optima mid had was that it too was a swb car initially, and it wasn't until midway thru 89 that the longer wheelbase versions arrived. These cars were fantastic. The gold shocks were still much better than what the Cat had, and the drive train of the mid optima was more efficient, and overall the car was generally just easier to drive and maintain.

Overall I'd say the Cat being so advanced helped it to a long competitive life (86-93 in it's various forms) but personally by 1990 the Lwb Optima Mids performed better out here. No doubt in England it would've been very different though.

Of course Kyosho went and shot themselves in the foot by releasing the Lazer, which out here never worked as well as the Optima mid.