I was getting what seemed horrid times with the optional ABC 300mAh battery and later discovered a couple of things: 1). My Novak SPY was fried and 2). There was way too much friction in my drivetrain (both ball diffs needed loosening, and the pinion was meshing too tightly with the spur).
After loosening everything up and installing bearings, I get much better times (as well as having a new ESC).