Mechanical Brakes on Hyper ST?

[fastbaja5b]

Hey, looking at a Hyper ST I am trying to convert (well I have been trying to sell it but getting no bites)

Are mechanical brakes essential? My radio (KO - EX5UR) doesn't have servo mixing so I'd need to use mechanical brakes using a Y lead, would I need to set the ESC brakes to zero so I don't have the motor and mechanical brakes doing the same job? (obviously disable reverse as well)

Does it make that much a difference on these things? Are the gains worth the effort?