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Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Land Models / January 2004New Losi Mini T
Ok, I got my new mini T, a few days ago. Took it outta the box, installed 4 AA alkaline batteries to try it out. S-L-O-W I knew it would be... I just wanted to see what someone (that was new to the hobby) would experience if they took one home, followed the directions, and took it for their first test-drive. Knowing in advance of this weak performance... I had a eight (single-cell) AA NIMH's all charged up and ready to go. Slapped 'em in there... much improved action, but I gotta say... still dissappointing. The day after the truck arrived, I went out and got a full set of sealed ball bearings, and installed 'em. A little better, (much smoother) but not there yet. Well, today I got a couple 7.2v NIMH (6-cell) battery packs by Venom Racing. WHOA.... now we're talkin'. Ten foot-long wheelies from a standstill, burn-outs in the dirt like you wouldn't believe, and way more responsive all around. The suspension is terrible. Boing Boing, Boing... it rides like a Radio Shack toy. I went ahead and pre-ordered the oil-filled shocks. Losi is supposed to be shipping those after the holidays. That should help. I just ordered the new Team Trinity hot motor for the truck. It seems that the Trinity motor is the only one with replaceable brushes, so that's the one I went with. I will let ya all know my impressions of the motor when I get it installed in a few days. The sad thing is... I also had to buy a charger to handle the NIMH battery packs. I got the Intellipeak (4130) digital pulse charger. Losi Mini T ..................................$150. Ball bearings ...............................$12. 2 sets of Venon 7.2v batt packs... .$46. Losi oil-filled bearings...................$30. Team Trinity motor.......................$30. Intellipeak Charger.......................$110 Shipping, sales tax, etc (about)......$30 Sooo, now I got over $400 invested in this little thing. I only hope to God there will be somewhere to race it. If not... keep your eye on Ebay, for the fastest little living-room terror out there. I wrote this post to let you all know.......... RC enthusiasts that get this model, should be prepared to throw some money at it, to get it to the level of performance that we're used to. > Ok, I got my new mini T, a few days ago. > Took it outta the box, installed 4 AA alkaline batteries to try it [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > RC enthusiasts that get this model, should be prepared to throw some > money at it, to get it to the level of performance that we're used to. It's good that Divrdan007 is pointing this out to all prospective and current Losi Mini-T owners because it's absolutely true that you will have to spend more money to really tap the potential of this little truck. It would be an injustice to run the Mini-T on AA batteries alone. As someone new to RC cars I'd like to give my perspective. First off, if all you've had before was Radio Shack or Toys R Us, then you'll be impressed right away with the Losi Mini-T, even with the lousy shocks and bushings. It's hobby level all the way. If you were to just buy a 7.2v NiMH batt pack and charger for it, you could be happy for a while. Your investment would be: Losi Mini-T....$150 7.2V NiMH Pack & AC Charger....$34.99 (Losi brand) or a better choice... 7.2v NiMH battery pack....$21+ AC/DC battery Charger....$60+ So for around $185 (+tax) to $230 (+tax) you could get started. Then get the bearings ($12) and then oil-filled shocks ($30+). After that as you thirst for more performance and become more familiar with RC go for a better motor ($30+) and possibly new servo and electronics. My point was only that you don't have to spend $400 to get some decent performance out of this great little truck. It can be a whole lot of fun for a lot of people for around half of that cost. I would highly recommend the Losi Mini-T to first-timers who are looking for something that is small enough for indoor fun, yet tough enough for outdoor off- road bashing. >Subject: Re: New Losi Mini T >From: Largabrasa >My point was only that you don't have to spend $400 to get some decent >performance out of this great little truck. It can be a whole lot of fun >for a lot of people for around half of that cost. I would highly >recommend the Losi Mini-T to first-timers who are looking for something >that is small enough for indoor fun, yet tough enough for outdoor off- >road bashing. Agreed. It was really unfair to add $110. (for the charger) into the equation, because a charger is considered to be *infrastructure* for electric R/C'ing... It's just that I didn't own a NIMH capable charger before getting the Mini T. Also, the hop-up motor could be skipped. The stock motor, with a well-charged 7.2v pack, really comes to life. As to the Oill-Shocks... they are gonna be the absolute "Must-Have" item for most Mini owners. I really expect they will make the Mini T behave lke a real RC, rather than a *springy-bouncy* Radio Shack toy. Regarding the bearings... I'm a firm believer in ball bearings. Hangin' around this hobby over the years has forced the habit...;-) Ya just get used to getting bearings for anything that doesn't already have 'em. >>Subject: Re: New Losi Mini T >>From: Largabrasa [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Ya just get used to getting bearings for anything that doesn't already > have 'em. I most heartedly agree that almost every Mini-T owner should be getting oil shocks. If you want to go off any kind of jumps you're gonna need to upgrade those spring shocks so as to not bottom out every time. I just got oil shocks all the way around and what a huge difference they make. They're great. The truck feels so much more solid. It can take jumps and even handles better. I'd put shocks second on the hopup list, after batts. I didn't notice that much of a difference between the bushings and bearings. Maybe as I gain more experience with RC vehicles I'll come to appreciate them more. I'm sure they'll last longer at least. What shocks did you get? not many available yet. > >>Subject: Re: New Losi Mini T > >>From: Largabrasa [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > bearings. Maybe as I gain more experience with RC vehicles I'll come to > appreciate them more. I'm sure they'll last longer at least. >Subject: Re: New Losi Mini T >From: Largabrasa >I just got oil shocks all the way around and what a huge difference they >make. They're great. The truck feels so much more solid. It can take jumps >and even handles better. I'd put shocks second on the hopup list, after >batts I assume you got the BRP shocks? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3165638958&category=44029 Glad to hear they are working for you. I am anxiously waiting for my Losi oil-filled shocks to arrive. I have them on pre-order at Stormer Hobbies. They are predicting an early Jan delivery on them... we'll see. BTW, I just installed the Team Trinity "hop-up" motor, made for the Mini-T. http://www.teamtrinity.com/mini-t.htm I have been kinda disappointed so far. No real punch increase like I was expecting. However, I have been running indoors, with only short bursts of speed. Perhaps I will see more improvement when I can get a little more room for her to really wind-out. Also... if you're thinking of the motor upgrade, you will have to CA glue the pinion to the motor shaft.... (per Trinity's instructions.) For some reason, the motor shaft is slightly thinner on the Trinity motor. I tried running it after simply pressing the gear on there. I was throwing the pinion gear off the shaft, until I glued the pinion on. I can only HOPE that when I decide to change motors or gears, that I can get that damn thing off again. Other than that, the motor bolts right on, with no mods required to the motor plate. >I didn't notice that much of a difference between the bushings and >bearings. Maybe as I gain more experience with RC vehicles I'll come to >appreciate them more. I'm sure they'll last longer at least. With ball bearings, the performance difference is much more sublte. The car will run smoother, but the real difference will show with increased run-time, and less wear on axles, and spindles. As those plastic bushings wear, the car will start to show slop (and wobble) in the wheels and axles. With bearings, that shouldn't happen. >>Subject: Re: New Losi Mini T > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > them on pre-order at Stormer Hobbies. They are predicting an early Jan > delivery on them... we'll see. Those are the ones I got. The literature they came with said they are VCS micro shocks by AE. I had to remove the upper shock balls and replace them with the ones supplies. The instructions said to use a .050 allen wrench to remove the old stock ones, but the size is actually smaller. I also got the bumper. I've had some rough front-end collisions so I thought it would help save the front end on future crashes. > BTW, I just installed the Team Trinity "hop-up" motor, made for > the Mini-T. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Other than that, the motor bolts right on, with no mods required to > the motor plate. I also got the same motor you did and am not very impressed with its performance either. It definitely doesn't have any more torque than the stock, but I think it has more top end speed. The one thing I noticed is that it seems louder than the stock, which I noticed when I ran it indoors. I wanted something with a lot more torque so I could pop wheelies from a standstill. I'm going to look into getting Losi's new upgrade motor whenever it comes out because I'm not sure if I'm ready to replace the motor mount just yet. I thought I would be able to not glue the pinion on by using one of the ones from Losi's pinion gear bag I picked up from my lhs. It went on pretty tight compared to the stock one. It was OK for a while until I crashed. I guess the pinion must have moved up the pin and the spur gear started to strip the heck out of it. I just glued the stock one on and have yet to try it. Divrdan007, thanks for the info on the bushings vs. bearings. > I just got oil shocks all the way around and what a huge difference they > make. They're great. The truck feels so much more solid. It can take jumps > and even handles better. I'd put shocks second on the hopup list, after > batts. A bunch of us in the office got Mini-Ts; one guy picked up the $29 7.2v NiMH pack for it; it's a great deal faster than our 4xAA NiMH runners.  SignatureL.V.X., brother mouse http://www.mousetrap.net/otr/ Old Time Radio trades http://makeashorterlink.com/?K16312E06 CBS Radio Mystery Theater database http://greyhound.mousetrap.net/altus/ retired racing dog The mini-t is starting to show up in numbers at our local race track (crcrc). The club rules are that you have to have 5 racers to start a new class. There will probably be enough people interested after our big January race to get a mini-t class off the ground. There's going to have to be some discussion about making the track mini-t friendly somehow. Maybe moving the pipes to shorten it. Have you had any luck finding a place to race? -- John ______________________ Losi specific forums http://losibk2.com > Sooo, now I got over $400 invested in this little thing. > I only hope to God there will be somewhere to race it. > If not... keep your eye on Ebay, for the fastest little living-room terror out > there. |
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