while the motors are very smooth and linear, they are also very slow. I put my VST 17.5 in my car with max external timing and kept the same gearing, esc profile, tires, etc...identical car with a motor change to same wind....coming down the straightaway, the car was about 1/3 as fast as my Orion v3 setup(rediculously slow)....I geared every which way but loose and NEVER could get the motor to be anywhere near as fast/powerful as the Orion, not even close as the Orion's are monsters.....you say the VST's like to be geared tall? Well, many of us have done it with ZERO improvements, dont act like it's all user error, it's not.