I am not sure it is a question of buying the wrong thing to tune it down, more a question of buying brushless and then tuning it to your requirements.
I just put a MambaMax 5700 in a Front-Drive M03 chassis - out-of-the box it simply spun the wheels all the time - 30 minutes of tuning and I have a gentle launch, massive top-end power, 75% braking and supremely driveable car.
Technically I am not using 100% of the available torque - but I cannot use it without investing in super sticky rubber - but the zero (or close) maintenance is a winner for me over a similar priced brushed motor/ESC combo.
I am planning on converting all of my RC's to brushless - I have three already - the 5700 in the M03, a compX 1/18th in the scalpel and a 6900 which is taking a rest after being in my lunchbox
it is heading for the TA04 that I am yet to build