thinking of getting a mini

[qin_23]

hi. i've got a 1/10 electric, but since there's nowhere to race it, i'm thinking of buying a mini. but i dont know anything about minis, other than i dont want a RTR. i've tried to find any sort of info regarding what minis are good but nothing so far.so i'm wondering if anyone could point me to some website with good mini info or even give their two cents. thanks!

qin_23

[vaderbxman]

There's a couple different minis out there. There's off-road (which is more popular), there's on-road (which is gaining popularity, but still the minority), and there's the odd-ball size ones, like the CRT.5, the micro T, the sportwerks recoils, ect.

My favorite mini right now is a tie between the Duratrax Vendetta and Vendetta ST. For the price, it's the most bang for your buck as far as performance and speed. As for aftermarket expandability, it's not very popular. The Vendetta will spank most other 1/18th cars out of the box. I'm not too sure about the Vendetta ST because it's new, but I'm sure it's pretty good.
http://duratrax.com/

For purebreed racing, Associated makes the RC18T, the B, and the MT. The T being a stadium-truck themed truck, the B being a buggy, and the M being a monster truck. Out of those, I like the RC18T the most.
The 18T: http://teamassociated.com/ae/18t/kit18t.htm
The 18B: http://teamassociated.com/ae/18b/kit18b.htm
The 18MT: http://teamassociated.com/ae/18mt/kit18mt.htm

For just having fun, Losi makes the Mini-T and Micro-T. The mini being 1/18th scale and the Micro being 1/36, I think. The mini-t is for those who just want to run packs though it and just have fun.

Any of the 3 manufactures make great rigs: It just depends on what you want to drive and what you want to drive on.

Happy shopping! :D

[evst 360]

Minis are essentialy just smaller rc's. They are good for small areas, like yards or the street. They have smaller suspensions and smaller ground clearance which makes it a little harder to make them do the same things larger vehicles do. They are good for transportation too. You can easily throw them in the car for driving elsewhere. There are nitro and electric minis out there, but electric is by far more popular. I have both (1 nitro mini and 1 electric mini) and the electric one blows the doors off the nitro one. Minis can be just as fun if not more fun than larger vehicles, and best of all they cost less. If you're looking to build a mini, look into the Team Associated rc18t (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXKAP3&P=ML) and rc18b (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXMGM7&P=ML) ft kits. I have the "b" kit (rc18b) and it was a blast to build and it a very fun car to drive. Very durable and parts are everywhere for them, along with hop-ups. :cool:

[qin_23]

thanks guys. didnt realize there was such an array of choices.

what do most ppl use to tool around in their basement? i'm leaning towards doing a bit of drifting, so i'm curious as to whether the off-road ones work indoors (on carpet). thanks again.

qin_23

[mdrevo]

get yourself a 18mt and cut pvc for the tires

[GT Freak]

dont forget x-ray and kyosho. they got some nice rides out too. :teacher:

http://www.one18th.com
http://yourmicro.com

[vaderbxman]

HPI makes the drift car that comes with the gyro to make drifting more fun than skill. Now that might be cheating, but who cares when you're just out to have fun?

[evst 360]

thanks guys. didnt realize there was such an array of choices.

what do most ppl use to tool around in their basement? i'm leaning towards doing a bit of drifting, so i'm curious as to whether the off-road ones work indoors (on carpet). thanks again.

qin_23
Off road minis work just fine indoors, and they are driftable. I would suggest an off road mini because you can go off road as well as on road and carpet, and they jump better than on roads :D

[vaderbxman]

I think proline makes or made on-road tires for the 18T and mini-t.. I'm not too sure about it though. I do know that the vendetta works great with some foam touring car tires (the vendetta uses a 12mm hex in the rim)

[qin_23]

alright people, thanks for the replies. got lots of info to wade through now! honestly, price will probably be the biggest factor in my decision.

qin_23

[cooleocool]

I like my Mini Quake quite a bit. It's a fun truck for the price! Duratrax includes everything needed to make her run too! The battery is a little lacking IMO, but a better one is probably pretty cheap. I don't use mine outside very much though... I bought it for indoor use in the winter. Setting up jumps and such... I'll have to get some pictures up in this thread...

Here's my website page about it:
http://www.freewebs.com/huronoutfittersracing/duratraxminiquake.htm

[bashin Maxxer15]

I like the Mini Quake too, hopefully I can sell my X-mod soon and get one...

[ritz59]

If you want to drift around the basement, look up the rc18r by associated. Its a 4wd on road mini that goes 22 out of the box. Not to mention if you throw a mamba or tekin brushless motor in there, it can reach speeds of 50+.

[Adanmtxt1]

I wish HPI would release a new micro, just to see where they decide to go from the Micro RS4. No one mentioned the Losi Mini-LST / MLST2? The second-generation comes with beefed up differentials!

[rob_s]

I think most people are on hold with the MLST waiting to see just what happens with the MLST2. We (meaning MLST owners) have been promised so much in terms of diff fixes from Losi that we're all a little gunshy.

It's a shame though, diff issue asside the MLST really blows the competition away both in stock form and in terms of potential. Too bad that something so simple essentially ruins an otherwise awesome design.