lightening emaxxs

[ozmatt]

Hiya guys, new to this site, some queries below;

Has anybody taken the front driveshafts out of their emaxx and noticed a difference?
I've got some proline velocity rims and bow tyres in the attemp to make the thing a bit quicker and i've removed the front driveshafts just to see the difference. I'd like to go brushless but cost stops me. Any other ideas on lightening a emaxx for some extra speed and acceleration?