RE: Troubling observations about brushless . . .
In a single word YES. I have never liked Nitro but I have a few friends that swear by it and many swore they'd never go back to Electric. Now that they've seen brushless a few have seen the light. I have my MM5700 in a rusty tamed down to where it's totally driveable, I no longer break parts and it only gets the wheels up when i want it to. All this on a 11.1V Lipo. My Nitro friends hate me. I out run them everywhere we go. I can run my truck anytime night or day (no noise) It's even tame enough to drive around in my house. Try that with a Nitro. Once you go brushless you'll never look back. besides the Lipo battery, Brushless is the best thing to happen to electric RC in the last 10 years. Do it.
John