hahahaha guess you can't challenge anyones beliefs on politics, religion, AND rc racing.
I'm pretty sure it won't help you sleep better at night, but most of the setup sheets I printed off for 'carpet high traffic' on petitrc.com were very similar to each other. the oil weights were generally off only by 5.... like 25wt vs 30wt, 30 vs 35 etc. and sping selection was always only off by one colour.
the reason I find your thoughts on kick up interesting is because about 12 years ago I had a 1/18 scale track in my back yard. (anecdotal as hell, sorry) But I took a mini-t and made an extended chassis for it and ordered this blue groove buggy body. anyways it had minimal kickup because of how I built it. without actually knowing what kickup was......once i got the bumpsteer figured out it drove way the hell better than the mini-t did. I mean way the hell better and I didn't know why. other than 'increased chassis length increases stability'
have you considered fabricating a minimal kickup chassis for a 2wd? you know, for $hits and giggles