I know what you mean. That's why 8043, 8258 and even 8265 are among my favourite sets.
It would be pretty cool if the motor is actually located in the chassis, with double axles through the turntable (one that connects the motor and the gearbox and one that goes in the opposite direction that connects the gearbox and the stabilizers). It might seem like stupid design idea to make it this way, but it would allow you to put both the ugly battery box and the motor the chassi without having to worry about the cables. It would also lower the center of mass considerable.
Also, there's hopefully some nice mechanism that lowers the stabilizers automatically.