Yeah I seem to recall that I stuck with a Van Uber until I got to the EG-R, and then I upgraded to the Xios before staying with the Pirhana. I preferred the bald chick for the better stats (can't remember the name). That was a hard one-on-one to unlock too.

I unlocked everything and fully upgraded every ship, but I never beat all the challenges. Weapons challenges for the Van Uber were insane due to the worse-than-Icaras shield strength. I also struggled with TT challenges for the Auricom. The ship strengths were definitely overshadowed by the weaknesses in Fusion.