thomas95

omfg that venom motor is only 10 bucks?!?!?!!

Cheap Guy

Yes, and it worth every penny. It's a direct bolt in; you can keep the stock electronic and it's MUCH better/faster than the stock motor. If you're on a budget, along with bearings, this is the way to go.

thomas95

shud i just go brushless for racing? and also what is a good and CHEAP lipo battery. and will stock charger charge it? or shud i get a nimh
tom

thomas95

is this a good battery??http://www.dynamiterc.com/Products/D...ProdID=DYN1421

Cheap Guy

The first thing you've got to do is decide what racing you're going to be involved in. Different classes have different rules. If you mean just "street" racing, again, there are a few different ways you can go, all of which are going to cost you different amounts of money. In one of your threads you mentioned that you can buy stuff online or from eBay. That's going to limit your choices and probably increase your costs, especially when it comes to batteries, which are usually cheaper on line. If you plan on really getting involved in this hobby, a good charger that will charge different types of batteries is where I'd spend my money. Your LHS may carry a charger called a Duratrax Onyx 230 which charges nimh batteries and lipos and only cost about $80 at your LHS. You'll still need a balance if you decide to go lipo.

Again, if you are limited in money, I'd go with the Venom Fireball 370 motor and nimh batteries which will work fine with the stock electronics. You probably can get both of these through your LHS, along with the charger. Going brushless is a bigger deal and MUCH more money since you're going to have to change all of the electronics to run the brushless motor and esc. At a minimum you're looking at $80 - $100, and you're going to need lipos to get the most out of the brushless.

thomas95

ok so go firevenom but with what battery?? i am only doing offroad btw. and i want to be able to hit in the 30 mph range....

Cheap Guy

The battery you posted a link to is a little expensive to me, but it is a higher mah battery so maybe it's worth the money. Frankly the regular 1100mah Losi battery isn't too bad and you can probably get two for the cost of just one of the ones you posted, that way one can be charging while you're running the other. Again, since you have to buy from a LHS, check to see if they'll give you a deal.

Running 30 mph is going to be a tough to do with brushed/nimh, but you'll be amazed at how much fun these things are at a little lower speed.

The most important thing is this hobby is getting the most for the least amount of money IMO.

J0EC00L

My Feedback: (3)

Tom,


here's a site that you should find very very useful!  They even sell on ebay, but you can order direct through the site.

TheToyz


And, when you decide to go brushless:

EZ-Run Kit (everything you need is included)

Those should keep you busy!!

Cheap guy,

Thanks for the heads up on the Rustler parts.  Is the Rustler a worthwhile investment?  I'll probably get it, since it comes with rx and tx.  Basically all i need to get are batteries and a charger, and replace the rear hubs.  Guess i have to go invest in a nother tool box... but being 1/10, i will need one a little bigger than normal. 

- Joe

J0EC00L

My Feedback: (3)

Cheap guy,

not to jump ship, but is this the atomc motor you were referencing?  Losi Micro-T BB Motor II (Dual Ball Bearing)

TheToyz has it for 15.00

Tom, spend some time shopping around.  Call you LHS, if he doesn't have what you're looking for, see if he can order it from a sister store or a wherehouse.  Always price items, and try the "price matching".  alot of times when you are a returning customer, stores in this hobby will work with you and do their best to give you a better deal, even if its a few bucks off... they want your business if they know you'll keep coming back.  Sometimes paying in cash helps too... they are usaully charged a percentage when you use a card, even if its a debit card. 

So cash usually speaks volumes!

Other than that... try starting from the first thread of posts in this mini t forum.  You will find that alot of our questions have been answered over the past few years!  Not much has changed either... maybe battery options and higher volume of parts, but the simple basic fundamentals of off-road and on-road racing hasn't changed!

- Joe

flipside7

I want to put together an onroad drift car, and I have a mini t pro laying around, plus a grip of parts, sooo, I had a few ?s...

I haven't chosen a motor/esc yet, but I wanted to get the ezrun set, is there a combo with a 35A esc AND a motor that will work for the losi???
I want the EZRun esc for another project, and have a mini tazer brushless esc for the drift car, with the motor from the EZRun combo, hopefully.

What is a decent light tire set up that is low profile??
I plan on keeping the ground clearance at 6 to 9 mm., and I want to keep the arms as level as possible, so a smaller wheel/tire maybe?? I really don't know what's out there, so maybe I'm dreaming here, but what's my best bet for tires. The surface I'll be running on is super clean and smooth asphault that was just tarred the other day. So the actual surface is smooth tar.
I'm not looking for tires that slip, the brushless will take care of that.

Will also be adding a gyro for stability, as it's actually my daughters first kit, she's 3, and I'm tired fixing my vendettas!

Of course you know who will be doing most of the driving! }8^)

Any suggestions welcome




I'll use med-hard sways and soft coils. Im gonna keep it loose and let the sways do some work. Damper shafts will be limited by internal spacers for lower max ride height.
Any suggestions for set up appreciated.

Cheap Guy

Flipside: A decent, cheap tire is the Pro-Pulse Ribbed tire. It's relatively low profile and is better than the stock Mini tires IMO. If you're running low, just make sure the surface is actually smooth and get a decent pair of shocks. Any decent size bump will make the rear bottom out, resulting in a nice little flip.

Joecool: Yes, the Rustler is a more than decent car. Some people who race don't particularly like it, but I'm just a basher and it's a great car. Grab a EZRun 35a/13t combo and a Zippy 2s 4000mah lipo and you'll have a fun car. Unlike the Mini which is good brushed or brushless, I never found a brushed motor for the Rustler that satisfied me, and I tried a bunch of them, so I highly recommend the EZRun, even more so than for the Mini. BTW, I have two tool boxes: one for my Mini and Micros and one for my Rustler, so welcome to the club!

thomas95

thanks so much joe and when i go brushless can i change the actuall motor to what i want??
tom

HJJFFFAA

You'll need a brushless motor and ESC. And you'll definitely want LiPos or some REALLY good Ni-MHs.

thomas95

joe said that ezrun thing has it all
i cant just swap out cans??
tom

HJJFFFAA

Oh. Well then you can change to any motor you want.

thomas95

ok im guna link the page..it doesnt seem worth it because all it comes with is what most brushless kits come
with and that is just the can and speed control then i got to pay 60+ bucks for a traxxas radio setup
tom

thomas95

http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-bru...d-p-27592.html

thomas95

guys im not goin to do anything to the mini t i have noticed that the electronics are connected together so if i want to switch something i have to replace it all. also i realized that in order to really make it a racer its going to cost $$$$. so i hhave come to the decision of getting the rc18t. its 4wd which i love and the electronics are seperated. the only down side is the diff is open to dirt and rocks. so it can get grinded up but they sell a cheap alloy cover which i will also be getting.
tom

J0EC00L

My Feedback: (3)

Such a shame tom...

Enojy the RC18T!  Just becareful not to "crash" or go off road with it!  The beautiful thing about the mini t is that you can race off-road and with a change of tires and gearing, you can go on road!

Better to have best of both worlds!

But, i too have entertained the RC18t as an option.  I seriously want one with the E46 BMW M3 body, so maybe one day down the road i will!

Right now, i've got plenty to keep me busy!

- Joe

thomas95

does anyone know what kind of batteries it runs?? i dont want to wait around 2 hours like the mini t....
i heard it runs on stick 7.2. cant i do a quick charge?
tom

thomas95

y do you say dont crash or go offroad???
tom

HJJFFFAA

I think he thought you meant the RC18R which is the sedan version.

J0EC00L

My Feedback: (3)

Sorry,

I was badly mistaken!  For some reason i was thinking of the RS4 18 scale car.  Its a street racer, and they are low to the ground and usually have bodies on them that resemble BMW's, Acura's, Corvettes, etc...

You are wanting the RC18t... which looks like a sweet set up!  Plus it's all wheel drive. 

You can definitely go off road with it and crash to your heart's content... i assume.

sorry again for the mis-type, i had a mental relapse!

- Joe

J0EC00L

My Feedback: (3)

Cheap Guy and MT,

I posted my results on the Pro-Pulse in the pro-pulse forums.

I say... definitely do the upgrades i did to it!  Well worth it compared to my first run without the additions!

- Joe

asmo

Hello,
Is anyone still using AA batteries in their Mini-T? I bought a T about 2 weeks ago and I am getting OK performance with alkaline AA batteries. On a whim last night, I installed some Energizer Rechargeable NiMh AA's (2450 mah) to see what the performance would be like. I thought the truck would be slower since NiMh cells are 1.2 volts and alkalines are 1.5 volts. In my mind, the alkalines totaled 6.0 volts and the NiMh batteries totaled 4.8 volts. Boy was I wrong about the performance. I gained at least 3 to 5 mph and the truck will almost lift the front tires off of the ground on hard acceleration. If you back up about 6 inches and accelerate the front end will completely lift until the motor guard is scraping the carpet - probably not good for the tranny. How is this possible? The only thing I can think of is that the NiMh batteries are able to dump a higher volume of current to the motor or they are actually capable of delivering more than 1.2 volts per cell. Not being much of a speed demon, I can actually live with the performance without going to a 370 motor or a brushless sytem. The only thing I need to check now is the run time on these batteries. I only have about 5 minutes on the batteries.