The biggest difference I felt between various ESC was when running partial throttle. At the same frequency, some feel a little punchier and others feel a little smoother. Never felt a difference in top speed per see, but I think that in stock, an ESC with more punch at partial throttle helps to get out of the corner and navigate through technical sections quicker. I can definitely see that in mod, you would want more smoothness to help with throttle control. Now, I'm pretty sure that pretty much all high end ESC can be tuned and will end up pretty much equivalent.

Martin Paradis