I feel the same thing, when I was testing knock off 18350's in the Chrome prototype VMAX I noticed also a huge difference in TH and all around vapor production and performance when using AW's and E'fest compared to any inferior battery. The "true" high drain chemical makeup of the internals Of a IMR battery have A LOT less resistance over the standard pcb protected battery.
ANALOGY: Take a 10 ft. long by 4ft. around steel tube, make 2 that are identical, in the #1 tube coat the walls with every oil known to man and maybe a little butter for a little added SLIPPPP factor. lol, In tube # 2 put sand in it. Now get a running start and jump in with the goal of making it out the other side. Tube #1 is a "TRUE" IMR ""HIGH DRAIN"" They discharge at a HIGH RATE they charge up at a high rate and much faster than a pcb battery due to the little internal resistance factor. Try this 1:: take a AW IMR and a PCB protected ICR battery, prefferably the same mAh rating, both AW's if you got em. Put them in the same charger making sure they charge at the same mAh rate (if you have a selectable independent charging feature) and watch just how much faster the IMR charges up compared to the ICR battery. I have many different 18350 batts. Protected and IMR safe chemistry high drains, and many different brands of each when I went thru the battery testing. ALL the IMR's charged much faster than any ICR batt. Like 40% faster on Average. But now ONLY 2 18350's charge even faster than the other IMR's and the ONLY 2 BRANDS YOU'LL FIND IN MY vmax'S.....E'FEST IMR #1 and for my backups AW IMR #2. Yes you read that right. E'fest IMR is now my Primary battery. All in All....yes even I feel a significant diference in TH , VP, and overall performance in my Max's when using those 2 batts. compared to any other IMR or ICR batt. I hope this answered your question and maybe shed some light on the subject for some others also. Take care everyone and have a great day !!!!
............J
