This Q&A has general information pertaining to the Team Losi Mini-T. There are several Q&A sections and you will find an index of them at Q&A Central.

The highly popular Team Losi Mini-T is the first-ever 1:18th scale electric radio-controlled stadium truck made by Team Losi of Ontario, California. The basic Mini-T is sold as a complete, ready-to-run package, complete with painted and trimmed Lexan body. The design of the Mini-T is based on Losi's XXX-T 1/10-scale truck.

A stadium truck is a small, off-road radio-controlled car, either rear wheel drive or four wheel drive and primarily intended for racing. Most manufacturers' stadium trucks, whether electric or gas, are based on existing buggy designs and accept all of the same upgrades. Stadium trucks are among the most popular RC vehicles. The name is derived from their full-scale counterparts, designed to run on a temporary offroad track built on a stadium field, much like stadium-based motocross racing and exhibition.

Four "AA" alkaline batteries are required to power the truck; eight are required for the transmitter. While you can run the car on Alkaline batteries, rechargeable NiMH (nickel metal hydride) or NiCd (nickel-cadmium) batteries will provide more current and therefore greater performance and faster speeds and more economical long-term operation. Lithium Polymer batteries will provide the ultimate in light weight and blistering performance.

Despite the Mini-T's diminutive size, handling characteristics and overall vehicle dynamics are remarkably similar to the larger truck it is based on. The long-arm suspension allows for exceptional suspension travel over rough terrain. However, the basic Mini-T uses friction dampers in lieu of oil-filled shock absorbers. These are suitable for the type of fun operation that most Mini-T's will likely be used for. Quality, oil-filled shocks are available as an upgrade. A full-race kit version, the Mini-T Pro, comes packed with the oil-filled shocks as standard.

The Mini-T is quite small and is suitable for fun use indoors as well as outdoors.

A stock Mini-T will achieve speeds of 10-15 mph (16-24 km/h). Use of a modified motor and a NiMH battery pack will double the speed. For all-out performance, the Mamba brushless motor system and Lithium Poly batteries can increase top speed to over 60 mph.

The car needs four AA and the radio needs eight AA batteries.

Alkaline batteries will work in the car, but rechargeable cells provide more current so they perform considerably better. They also cost a lot less in the long run. You can also use rechargeable batteries in the remote, and while they provide no performance boost, they will save you money. Be sure to pick up a charger if you go with rechargeable batteries.

Lithium Polymer is by far the best to use. If you are running the stock motor stick with 2S liPo packs.

An electronic speed control or ESC is a device mounted onboard an electrically-powered radio control model in order to vary its drive motor's speed, its direction and even to act as a dynamic brake in certain controllers. An ESC can be a stand-alone unit which plugs into the receiver's throttle control channel or incorporated into the receiver itself, as is the case in most toy-grade RC vehicles. Some RC manufacturers that install proprietary hobby-grade electronics in their entry-level vehicles, vessels or aircraft use onboard electronics that combine the two on a single circuit board. Regardless of the type used, an ESC interprets control information not as mechanical motion as would be the case of a servo, but rather interpret the information in a way that varies the switching rate of a network of field effect transistors, or "FETs". The rapid switching of the transistors is what causes the motor itself to emit its characteristic high-pitched whine, especially noticeable at lower speeds. It also allows much smoother and more precise variation of motor speed in a far more efficient manner than the mechanical type with a resistive coil and moving arm we used in the old days. Most modern ESCs incorporate a battery eliminator circuit (or BEC) to regulate a voltage for the receiver, removing the need for extra batteries to power the radio gear.

ESCs for electric powered airplanes are very similar to those used in cars. However, features like reverse are not needed. They do generally have dynamic brakes to stop a propeller from spinning allowing folding props to fold in, therefore reducing drag. so while it technically will work, it would not be the best choice for an R/C car.

ESCs designed for sport use in cars generally have reversing capability; newer sport controls can have the reversing ability overridden so that it can be used in a race where reverse is prohibited. Controls designed specifically for racing and even some sport controls have the added advantage of dynamic braking capability. Simply put, the ESC forces the motor to act as a generator by placing an electrical load across the armature. This in turn makes the armature harder to turn, thus slowing or stopping the model. Some controllers add the benefit of regenerative braking. This puts the voltage being generated by the motor back to work recharging the vehicle's drive batteries. On full-sized vehicles, regenerative braking is used in electric and hybrid golf cars and hybrid automobiles while dynamic braking is used in diesel-electric locomotives to help slow trains on long downgrades.

Brushless motors have recently become very popular in the RC scene. Brushless DC motor controllers are much more complicated than brushed motor controllers. They have to convert the DC from the battery into phased AC (usually three phase) that the brushless motor can use. The correct phase varies with the motor rotation, which is where the complication lies. Usually, back EMF (electro motive force) from the motor is used to detect this rotation, but variations exist that use magnetic or optical detectors.

Power comes from a Mabuchi RS-280 motor operated via a miniature electronic speed control.

Take a look at the Mamba Brushless Motor System Q&A.