Well as I see it the brushless motor react the same undergeared as overheated. You need to find the "sweet spot" for your esc/motor/batt/style combo. I jumped 4 teeth this weekend from my normal ratio and the motor functioned as if it had nitrous and ran equally as cool. But if I was to go too far it would overheat as so would undergeared. So you need to experiment trackside. I hope this helps.