RE: Troubling observations about brushless . . .
Honestly the throttle is in your control and you do not have to run full-throttle everywhere all the time !
The MambaMax ESC has extensive programming options that allow you to modify the power curve and the start-up torque along with many other things.
I ran a Brushless in my Lunchbox for a while - possible the worst-handling wheely prone device ever - and tamed it into something that would only wheely at full throttle - all the time then - and something that had fairly usable braking too.
Most of the changes you suggest actually negate the advantages of brushless/Lipo - you are probably better to either tame the BL with ESC programming, or else run a mild brushed setup.......