In my opinion a .21 of 1.5hp comming out at 42+k rpm will be faster than a .28 of 2.3hp at 25-28k rpm. The .28 at 40k don't forget that such engines produce less than 1.5 hp at max rpm cause they are mid-range engines. And their max rpm point is far away from 42+k rpm.
Yep. You're wrong. It's the same reason why the traxxas VXL is faster than the Mamba max 5700. It can be geared up A LOT more.