I've had about 5-6 runs with the new sidewinder esc and old rx/tx. I have had 2 or 3 times that the sidewinder shutoff. All three LED's blinking at once. "ESC is not seeing a valid signal from the receiver" according to the trouble shooting guide. So turns out the RX or TX has an issue. At least the CC sidewinder is smart enough to shutoff completely!!!
In conclusion I still believe the ESC had issues also because of the no reverse a lot of the times and the going crazy full throttle on its own.
I'm very happy with the CC sidewinder. I have the Fan combo mounted also too it. It was heating up quite a bit so I cut out the plastic webbing on the top of the fan shroud. Much more flow now and is running way cooler.
I've been running on outdoor golf carpet, its crazy heavy duty. Good for testing for temps on the motor and esc.
I'm going to swap out my new TX and RX this weekend. Will report back after testing.