After having been in RC planes and helicopters for 4 years, my wife decided it is time to venture into something that stays on the ground. She ordered me an HPI Racing Sprint 2 Sport Z-28 Camaro. This side of RC is new to me. I understand this is 4 WD & belt driven. It looks awsome but is this a quality machine for the first timer? Any info on this will be appreciated. Is belt drive reliable?

Belt drive is reliable as long as you maintain the drivetrain, but that goes for shaft as well anyway. The good thing about belt vs shaft is that there isn't any torque steer with belted drivetrains. A sprint 2 isn't the best car in the world, but it is pretty reliable from what I've read and heard. You should be able to have some fun with it and not break too many parts if you don't smack it around too much, and you can definitely upgrade to hotter motors when you feel you need to go faster. FWIW, I myself have an older model Losi XXX-S, which is also belt drive (albeit single belt rather than your dual) which has been quite reliable even with a brushless system on 3s and I like it much more than a shaft driven car. Also, a Sprint 2 is a better performer than a stock TT01 or the like, but slightly less agile than a TC4, if that's the comparison you were looking for.

I am looking for any information about this car as this is my first step inito RC cars. Thanks for the info. I am aware this is not top of the line as it is on the lower price range but it looks well built for an entry level car. As with my planes, I started out with entry level teach yourself how to fly planes and have gone on to planes with 5 foot wingspans and are 4 feet long or larger. Have to start someplace.