My question may be moot, I calibrated the ESC on the new Hobbywing setup and took it outside and ran it. It's a rocket now, wheelies at speed if I'm not careful and is quite fast in a straight line and I haven't changed any gearing yet. I can't even imagine driving one of these with a mod setup, not sure how you'd put that power to the ground. Anyways, out of the box the brushed version was a toy, suitable for a young child in my opinion. Now it's actually an exciting truck to drive.