hmm. Most of the times I've had guiding above 1 is when I hadn't balanced properly. I shoot at home in B8 skies, and when we camp up in the mountains in B3 skies. The latter is usually quite windy and sometimes this impacts but we take steps to mitigate wind as well.
The EQ6-R is a great mount and yes it also depends on how much weight you're driving.
I've heard people on the NINA Discord say that PEC training is pointless if you have good alignment and are plate solving and guiding, and to be honest, my experience matches this (I've never done any PEC training beyond some sessions in my gym at home
)
YMMV