Ok. To each his own. Trail studs do not penetrate, they gouge the ice when you spin the track. More ice pics and chisels make a big difference as they are penetrated all the time. Have you tried running 96 ever? I have had much better results in 1000' and 2000' runs with 96 trail studs than 144 (when I used to run in the trail class). And I'm not talking about hammering it out of the hole like a rookie. That's rolling it on once you get out a bit, just as I do with ice pics. It hooks just as well or better with the 96, and is about 2 mph faster at the end of the trap on average every time. Weight makes a huge difference. You're only looking at 140 hp or so stock. It takes alot of power to turn a few extra pounds, and the extra weight is also making the track balloon out that much more. In 2000', I could never break 123 mph with 144 trail studs. With 96, I ran a best of 125.8 mph in 2000', and was that much further ahead of my competition.
If you find that you hook better with 144, run 144. Mine always worked better with 96, and was certainly faster on top end.