RE: Battery
NiMH is definately the way to go these days. You'll see significant improvement over the nicds. About the only thing nicds are used for today is for things like my roto start or toy type RCs. If your on a budget you should check out the tenergy cells. They not as good as the IB cells or new Ener-G cells but they would be a significant improvement over what you have and are more budget freindly.