I just bought my first mini R/C car and it was a Atomic Toys Z-Car.
http://www.atomictoys.com/zcars.html They come in 4 colors and 27 and 49mhz. I have nothing to compare it too as this is my first mini car but I have to say it works great! It goes straight very well and speed is okay. It's completely stock with it's 2.2 motor. I ran 0-10' in 4.32, 4.25, & 4.26 seconds...so it's pretty consistent too. It runs on carpet in my office, but the time trials were in my basement on a cement floor. The controller works well, the body styles are all BLAH, there's a built in red LED in the car. The controller makes car noises which thankfully has an off button and also has red LED's that flash in a sequence which is suppose to make the car showy when just sitting in it's pod. This battery draining option is also thankfully able to be turned off. It has a telescopic antennae and range is decent...I get 10-15' in my basement so far...in my office I get more like 20-30'. They only run $19.99 which is why I bought it.