in our past years we tend to use the base chassis. but we modify it to our own specs. this tends to both work well and is cost efficient because you already purchased it. in the past years the metal supplied for the chassis tends to be quiet resilient. last year we took on about two robots head on we only received minor cosmetic damages. so in my own opinion yes,l would use the base chassis, but tweak it to your own specs. hope this helps, and good luck to all of you!
