My first impressions of the Mini-T
I have to start off by saying Support your LHS! Thanks Jake!
www.jphracing.com You know how to treat your customers.
My first impression out of the box was good. Many of the parts are scaled down versions of the full size truck. All the parts were there including a universal tool for the tire nuts and slipper. Included are some ride height spacers and a little ramp. It comes with a Quick Start guide as well as a full manual.
The radio that comes with it is a lot better than I expected for a $139.00 RTR. Its not all that solid and uses a cheesy little tire for the steering wheel but works well for the application. The cool part of the radio is that it includes a steering ratio adjustment.
First thing I did was pull the slipper cover and check the mesh and slipper adjustment. Much to my surprise they were set correctly.
I then installed 4 batteries in the stock holder. This is easily accomplished by removing 1 body clip from the radio/speed control unit that then flips up. While it was open I also threaded the antenna wire and installed the tube. It comes stock with a 4 battery holder but has room for 5 batteries abreast and I believe a 6Th can be added on the front or back. One thing that bothers me is the on / off switch just kind of hangs there.
I clipped on the little red body with the supplied body clips witch for my fat fingers was the most difficult part. I will replace the clips with a single wire I have from my micro. Without hesitation I began to toucher my cat. Inside the house on the wood floors it sticks like glue. The truck handles better than the cat. Reverse works well and doesn't take to long to kick in. Over the little bump to the carpet and around the living room and back to the wood floor without loosing traction. (Poor Cat) Inside the house its a blast.
Out the the front of the house we go. Down the drive into the street. In the street it shows its first weakness. FASTER DAMN IT! I see the need for more Juice and a better motor for running in a larger aria. Up the drive down the sidewalk and over the curb. OUCH! Can you say pan slam. The second weakness shows up. Shocks will have to be on the top of the list for up grades. The stock shocks are coil over nothing. Going mid speed from the street to the driveway there is about an inch curb, again SLAP! Definitely needs a better shock setup.
I have now been running my Mini-T at near full speed for 20 minutes or so with no decrease in battery performance. I'm using a freshly charged set of 2000 ma. I ran it for 3 min at fill speed with 4 bats and the fins on the ESC were luke warm to the touch. Ill be interested in seeing how it holds up to 5 or 6 cell packs. The ESC and radio are one unit that may be swapped out for other equipment if so desired. As of this point I see no reason to change.
Back to the table for DAO (Damage Assessment Overview.) Hmm the front right wheel isn't spinning freely. Losi used little plastic inserts instead of bearings in the front wheels. I must have warped one during a hit. Add bearings to the list of upgrades. I swapped the collars around and it spins fine know. I put the wheel back on and the camber on the same wheel looks weird. Losi used a little threaded rod for turnbuckles. Bent! I straitened it out and adjust the camber using a credit card as a gage and all is well. Need to add turn buckles to the upgrade list. Everything else was still in tip top shape.
All in all this is a kick ass little truck out of the box and will do just fine for a living room racer. If you just can keep things as they are I'm sure there will be a plethora of aftermarket parts out soon. A little bird told me that there are several Micro RS4 parts that are interchangeable with the Losi. I don't know this for a fact but......
I would like to thank HB for donating his Mini-T for testing. This evening I will take mine out of the box and have some fun.:boxing:
-Ed
a bit noisy. shocks stink. overall very cute and worth it.
