[Chrislong]

Chazz is 100% right if you want to keep the car running problem free. However (with regular maintenance) I had no issue running 8-9 turns when we ran brushed even on high grip astro, and 5.5 brushless with early Lipo (more like 7.5 now with latest generation motors and high power lipo). BUT be prepared for the layshaft gear wearing, keep an eye on it. Some of us ran xx4 gear here but take into account the effect on gear ratio - and reshim the whole layshaft properly so no side play and belt runs straight like Chazz says.

I got around the skipping under braking, by turning my brakes right down to approx 60%. i.e. enough to race a quick lap and brake into corners, but not enough to lock the wheels and skip the belt (just). This was with running a one way front diff. I absolutely loved my X-5 but it feels like such a long time ago now.