Can Hobbywing esc's be programmed to be as smooth as other's out there? I've only driven a few vehicles with them installed, and they all felt like light switches on the throttle, but never have been involved with programming them

Thanks!!.

Which specific Hobbywing? They have a wide range of cheap and expensive models.

Pretty sure they were XR8 plus

I have run everything from the SCT version to the Pro version and I am very happy with how they run. There are tons of settings for throttle on the XR8 pro and plus. I find them to be plenty smooth. A lot of the feel can also be how the car is setup. Around where I race, HW is by far the most popular ESC used.

At least the Xerun 1/10th scale models are very smooth. Can't say anything about the 1/8th models but wouldn't expect them to be much different.

More or less, yes. You need to get busy with the program box though.