Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Land Models / June 2004

peter walker typed:

Yup, just got one for my youngest son ..

Good points, it's little, goes fast and is 'relatively' cheap to run ..

Bad points, it's little, goes fast and breaks easily, so becomes expensive
.. ;)

Ok... I got a Mini-T Last year, (late fall) when they were released.
Lots of good AND bad about this little truck.
More GOOD than bad... if you throw some money into it.
If you want a really fast Mini-T that HANDLES, here's a shopping list for you:
Stronger motor-$30-$40
Batt Packs-$20-$25ea. x (3 or 4+)
Oil filled shocks-$30
Ball Bearings-$10-$15
Better steering servo-$25
Wide front bumper-$8 (Saves those front susp arms)
Misc spare screws, gears (pinions/spurs), suspension arms, body clips, springs,
etc- around $50+.
Most of the above is available on eBay.
  Losi, GPM, BRP, and several others are manufacturing lots of other hop-ups.
Aluminum everything... mostly eye candy, but some of the stuff is pretty cool.
Bigger wheels and tires are also available.
  Several battery suppliers have gotten on the bandwagon, and a number of
power options are out there as well.

    Out of the box, it needs lots of help to be track-competitive.
Even for casual bashing, things needed to be done to fulfill the adrenelin
needs of a Nitro Junkie like myself.
 The stock friction shocks suck. Can you say "Boing-Boing-Boing"?
Losi has come out  with oil-filled shocks that are a HUGE improvement.
I had to run 50wt shock oil in the rears, to prevent the bottom from hitting
hard when landing jumps.
 The supplied motor is weak.
I put a Trinity motor in mine, it helped, but then upgraded to another motor
called a "Scorpion".
The Scorpion really hauls... wheelies on command, with lots of speed and
torque.
  The stock 4-AA battery set-up sucks too.
Running a hotter motor, (or even the stock motor) the truck needs real NIMH
batt packs.
 If you want some REAL power, and serious run-time... 4 AA's just wont cut it.

I run Venom 1100mah 6-cell packs, those help. (Originally made for the HPI
Micro)
I also got a few 8 cell 9.6 volt packs that make the thing really fly.
The stock ESC seems to handle the extra juice, with no problems or overheating
so far.
   The stock steering servo is also a piece of crap.
The gears, and the pins inside (that hold the gears) break easily.
Losi used a proprietary 4-Wire Servo/ESC set up.
Aftermarket servos use 3 wires.
I had to take a better Hitec Micro servo, and solder the stock 4-wire Losi
potentiometer into it, to get it to work... so far so good.
    I have not broken anything major yet, but little things do break.
Guys that race the Mini at my local track, break arms and hub carriers
regularly.
(I have been lucky, and somehow have managed to avoid the boards)
    Not including the $120 charger that I bought to charge the packs, I've got
around $400 into my Mini-T.
For that kinda money, I coulda got an Associated B4 or something.
   BUT... I wanted something that I could buzz around on my living room carpet
during the winter. (A 1/10th scale buggy would need a lot more space to run.)
My dog chases it around the house, and nips at the tires... a source of
infinate amusement, for both me AND the dog.
   My LHS started a Mini-T Class for racing.
We run on the 10th scale carpet track, with lots of jumps.
It's fun, but those little buggers are hard to control with any precision.
The steering linkages are sloppy, the front end "pushes" quite a bit, and the
short turning radius is tricky to master.
  Anyway, all told, I really love this little thing. With the oil shocks, it
handles very much like it's big brother, the Losi XXX-T.
It has been big-fun to hop-up.
It's fun to tinker with... everything is so small, it's almost like working on
a watch.
    There are some very active Mini-T forums that are full of everything about
the Mini-T... both Good AND Bad.

one18th.com - General Losi Mini-T

RC Nitro Talk - Micro 1/18th Talk

Check 'em out, read what other owners have to say, and draw your own
conclusions.