I say 1/8th scale buggy LiPo/Brushless conversion! J/K that doesn't fall into the realm of cheap at all, but man after seeing one done I realised i can have all of my durability, and toughness, and with the LiPo/BL setup run for 30minutes or more on a charge.

I had a Losi XXX-T and I liked it alot, I originally had a 19T Komodo dragon 2 and a LRP runner ESC using a 3300mah venom pack and it was great fun, with about 20 to 25 minutes run time. Probably mid 20's, maybe high 20's with the right gearing.

I later put a Novak 5.5R bl in it and it was WAY faster.