I'm running the MGT on 4S lipo. Nothing off the wall. As for the strain on the esc due to braking, I don't think it's a problem. I remember seeing my MGT running when it was in nitro form and owned by someone else and the braking wasn't "all that." When I converted to electric, I kept dialing down the brakes until the truck would brake without flipping over. Apparently, the motor braking was a lot better than the stock setup. I'm only running 30% on the brakes and it stops the truck pretty quickly without locking up the tires causing the truck to nose dive and flip.

10Kman, if you are looking for speed, perhaps keeping the two speed is the way to go, but you said that you are familiar with the MGT. As you know, the second gear setup doesn't look like it could take much without modification. All that's kicking it into second gear is that little arm that pops out on the rear disk of the second gear shaft and all that's holding that in place is a little set screw. I don't think it will hold up.

I suppose that you could lock first gear and use a low kv motor with lots of cells and use a large pinion to get it moving faster. I do have to say again though, going fast isn't the strong suit of the MGT with the large tires. This thing as I have it setup borders on having rock crawler status and is a hell of a basher in confined areas. It's the most fun RC vehicle that I have, although it is the slowest. The lack of speed also means much fewer broken parts. In over a month of thrashing, I've only had to replace one lower arm.