It might not be the same thing as molasses but the question is will adding molasses do the same thing as overdrive? Does the benefit of adding overdrive warrant the price of the bottle of nutrients? I don't know about this product specifically, but the answer is usually no to the question of "is it worth it?" with most of these additives.
The answer is "it depends", honestly. Does molasses do the same thing as overdrive? No, not really. If you want to compare molasses to a product made by Advanced Nutrients a fairer comparison would probably be Bud Candy. Maybe Big Bud. If you're growing in hydroponics molasses isn't really an option. The hydroponic-specific additives have the huge advantage of being formulated specifically for hydroponic applications, meaning they're already completely broken down and available for the plants to use as food and, perhaps more importantly, as unappetizing to harmful microbial life as possible. Molasses is just a dream food for all kinds of slimey nasty things that want to grow in your reservoir. It's possible to use it without an explosion of snot in your equipment, but it's unlikely. If you're growing in soil it doesn't cause that kind of problem and I would say to try lots of different things to see what you like, including molasses.
For several years I was buying the entire nutrient/additive lines from several different brands. I switched to just using a two part nutrient system, molasses, and a PK booster. After switching I really didn't notice any difference at all. Just because there is an expensive additive out there doesn't mean it's worth it. Most of this shit is just snake oil IMO.
Sometimes the key to moving faster is to lighten the vehicle rather than put more power in it. If you don't have what you're using dialed in right and you get rid of a bunch of additives making for a simpler feeding schedule you're able to employ more efficiently, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see similar or even better results. Now what I'd suggest would be to reintroduce the stuff you were using previously one at a time. See if you see any further improvement.
Think of it like a circus performer. You see him on a 10 foot unicycle juggling flaming chainsaws. He didn't learn to do it that way. He learned to ride a normal unicycle. He learned to juggle balls. Then he practiced riding the unicycle and juggle the balls. Then, without the cycle, he learned to juggle progressively difficult things. Without juggling he learned to ride taller and taller unicycles. Little by little he added more and more aspects of difficulty to the act until he was able to do something really spectacular. A lot of growers try to jump right into juggling a dozen or more nutrients and additives and then, when things don't go as well as the guy they saw doing it, they assume it's the nutrients or additives that are the problem.
I could play Jimi Hendrix' guitar, but it would sound like crap unless I spent a lot of time learning to play.
I'm not saying you're a newbie or anything. I'm just saying there's a learning curve at play whenever we try to change how we do something. If we take on too many new things at once we often find ourselves overwhelmed and the result is less than we expect if we base it on what other people, who've practiced/learned more, have done.
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