I think what Paulbot is saying is the generally accepted rule, the gestalts lose apparent intelligence due to the five minds having to work together.

it's more of a dexterity issue than intelligence, i'm assuming.

I look at it as this, if I were a 100foot tall robot made up of 6 huge construction vehicles that could literally tear an aoutobot base apart with my bare hands, I too would not be able to resist saying "Devastator Smash".