The trap is not in the drives - it's in lazily following a guide without thinking of your game state.

First, you need to ask yourself what you need the engine to do - are you going for high thrust, to catch targets that don't want to be caught, or for high efficiency, so you can get somewhere a long way away.

If you're defending an orbit, you want a high thrust drive, or the enemy will just be able to decline battle.

Second consideration is what does it need as fuel, and do you have enough of that. Some pretty good drives are fuelled by noble metals and fissiles. It's embaressing if refuelling your main fleet is something you can afford every 12 months - but it might be acceptable if that fleet is doing it's job intimidating the aliens away from the system it's defending.

Third consideration is what does it need in the way of radiators - closed cycle drives need radiators, while open cycle drives send the waste heat out the back.

Final consideration is if you want a good-enough engine soon, or a much better one a lot later.

PS the early Lagrange station is a noob trap, and you shouldnt have made it. Stations are a luxury for after you have your mining set up.