I just purchaced a ERBE

Hi,
First off I'm 45 and have had both nitro & electric R/C cars, trucks, boats, and planes. (only flew last plane for a VERY short time!) I usually research before I 'impulse buy'. With my most recent R/C cars were HPI Micro RS4s and Losi Mini Trucks, both of those cars were lots of fun with LOTS of upgrades, blah blah blah....
The reason for my change in needs is a friend of mine has a HPI Savage X 4.6. He made a comment that electric trucks/truggys CANT keep up with his Nitro Savage. Well the gaunlet had been thrown down, as he knew I prefered electric over gas.
I have been reading up on 1/10 off road trucks/truggys and I decided on the E-Revo Brushless Edition. I actually got another buddy to get a second ERBE and they will arrive Thursday. To keep us from going STRAIGHT to the dog house with our wives, we are starting with completelty stock w/ 2 7 cell NiMH batteries, and a battery charger that will charge these NiMH and future LI-PO batterys.

Keeping in mind these E-Revos will be used primarily for bashing/racing on a track we are building. (it's nice having equipment!!) We live over an hour away from the closest hobby store. Next month we will both go LI-PO and most likely twin 3S packs.

My questions for you guys are the following:

1) Knowing things break what are some "MUST HAVES" in my pit box?

2) What changes are needed to improve driving/ handling?

3) What are the improvements does the stock ERBE need, to drive aggressively?

TIA,
Jeff