Nothing screams "wish I was a billionaire" than a Cutter with class C drives
Touche' .
But it's only a matter of time. 700+ tons of cargo and the next CG will make him 'Class 8A Thruster' money in no time. I'd sell of every ship I own ( and I have a 700+ million credit Corvette ) before I sell the Cutter. I sold everything I had to purchase it. And it paid for my Corvette, AspX, Vulture, and Python and put 300+ million in 'mad money' in my Bank of Zaonce account.
But back to the OP's question. The best thrusters, with the best upgrade, will yield the best performance. While nothing will eliminate the drift-iness of the Cutter, you can make it better. It will never handle like a Viper. It will never win a turning fight and you'll never outmaneuver anything, period. It has two defenses, speed and massive shields.
With my own, I use the speed to outrun what I don't outgun. An Elite Anaconda or Corvette can't touch my top speed. They can light me up for the 10-20 seconds I'm in range. An FDL simply can't get through my shields before I jump out. Anything else fits in either of those two categories.
A: Big enough to hurt, but to slow to catch.
B: Fast enough to keep up, but to small to hurt.
Not having A class thrusters allows bigger opponents the opportunity to catch you, putting you at risk. Make them a priority.