From my personal experiences, I started carpet oval racing in the late 80's(around 88 or 89). We had a permanent oval in a shopping mall and ran on the carpet that was there. From what I was told, osite came into being because most of the carpet available back then has what was called a nap to it. You would get good traction going one way and then no traction going back the other way. Osite made the traction consistant all the way around.
We switched from 6 cell to 4 cell to get the cars under control. We found that after a little adjusting, the 4 cell car had the same overall speed, but was more controllable on acceleration. Less punch. Easier to drive especially for the beginner.It was a tough transition and a lot of us fought it, but it was the best thing for the hobby overall. I am hoping this single lipo takes hold, it will be good for the hobby, in my opinion of course.