Team Losi Mini-T Pro

Written in October 2005 by Lee Carr

Team Losi was the first to create a 1/18 scale off-road truck…the Mini T. Since then there have been over half a dozen other trucks from rival companies.

Now I’ve owned a Mini T RTR in the past, and was NOT very impressed with it, as the speedo/receiver unit didn't work in my Mini T! And it took 3 months to get a replacement unit, by which time I had already updated the electrics to after market items.
I had kept the Mini T for a while, but got bored as there was NO where for me to race it and there were no forums that I knew of to get help and speak to other Mini T owners.... since then the micro scene has grown ten fold!

Losi decided to release a another version of the Mini T aimed specifically for the racer, a version that includes all of the most popular after market hop-ups, and allows the buyer to select there own radio gear to install.

When you open the Mini T Pro’s box, your greeted by a completely assembled rolling chassis.

The only bit of electric’s included is a Team Losi Speed motor, which is larger and more powerful than the motor in the Mini T RTR. The Pro also comes with Step-Pin rear tires and ribbed front tires; both are glued to white dished wheels. The Mini T Pro also comes with a clear shell to paint how you like.

The Mini T Pro has all of the most popular and performance enhancing hop ups, the Mini T Pro comes with a full set of ball races (the RTR only has bearings in the transmission!). There is a duel-disc adjustable slipper clutch with hard anodized aluminium pressure plates, this slipper is more effective than that of the RTR version, and it’s also more durable and far more adjustable. It’s also better able to cope with the added power of modified and brushless motors; a lightweight lexan gear cover protects the spur and pinion from any little stones/dirt.

Features
The Mini-T Pro features Oil-Filled Aluminium Racing Shock Absorbers
The included dual disk slipper is designed to handle hot modified motors and high-power batteries
Ball bearings are used throughout reducing drag and increasing run time
A heavy-duty ball differential
Speed Motor for improved acceleration and top speed over the RTR version
Genuine MIP CVDs offer excellent performance
Titanium turnbuckles used for upper camber and steering links
The Mini-T Pro includes a clear, pre-trimmed body

You must get your own radio gear, servo, speedo and battery pack to complete the Mini T Pro.

Right enough of the background of the Mini T Pro, here’s my first impressions.

The quality of the kit build is really good…all screws (Philips type of screw) are tight, all of the flashing from the plastic has been removed and everything runs nice and free.
The only problem/s I really found was the steering still has slop from new, I thought Losi might have rectified this seeing as the RTR has/had the same problem! Also the space for the servo has NOT changed from the RTR version, so a small/micro servo is required.

Installing the electric’s:

For the Pro I used a Blue Bird BMS-380MG servo, the servo is too big to fit into the allocated place (where the kit servo should go), I had to cut away the mounting lugs off the servo and get the dremel out and cut some of the chassis away for the servo to fit! Once the chassis has been cut away, the servo fits OK, but I was unable to tighten the servo mounting plate fully as the servo is too tall. There should be plenty of torque for steering this little Mini T Pro till the cows come home…



The battery pack that’s used in the Mini T Pro are the same configuration as the MRS4 and TT ZK-2 (4 in a row with 2 sitting on top), but seeing as I don't own a MRS4, I had to use an old 18T one (side by side saddle pack) I had lying around. All I did was take the heat shrink off and bend it in half; it fits the chassis really well.


Speedo wise I installed a Nosram Hawk Power Reverse, this speedo is for 540 motors so will handle any micro motor I can throw at it. It also has a very small footprint (1 inch x 1 inch) I mounted the Hawk on top of the battery compartment, I hard wired the wires to the Losi Speed motor and put Micro Corally connectors on the cells and speedo. As for the receiver I use one of my KO KR-297FZ that also fits nicely on top of the battery compartment.


Here the chassis before the receiver was installed:

The next step was for me it get the shell prepped and sprayed, the shell comes with over spray film on the outside to protect from any over spray (hence the name!). The Mini T pro comes with window masks, but before I fitted these, I washed the shell out with some warm soapy water, rinse the soap off with cold running water, and let it dry out.

Once the shell has dried out it’s time for the window masks these are easy to fit and they fit really well to the lines of the shell.

The colours I choose are very bright being Fluoro green and Fluoro yellow, as I find I can see my RC cars better, once sprayed just take the window masks out and take the over spray film off and your left with a nice shiny shell, fitted with a few choice stickers.

First Run:

Right cells charged, shell painted.. it’s time to rock and roll (so to speak). Test area was my front garden, first impressions: Very loud and not that quick (compared to other micro trucks).

I found the reason for the Pro being loud; it’s the pinion/spur mesh! I think the pinions are not very true, so there are tight spots on the mesh as the pinion spins. So I swapped the pinion out for an Xray plastic one, and noticed straight away how much quieter the Pro was.

As for the speed of the Pro, well all I can say is I’m disappointed!! Granted it is quicker that the RTR Mini T, but the 280 motor just doesn’t cut the mustard I’m sorry to say! I did try and fit a 300-size motor in, but the motor plate will only accept 280 motors!

The Pro struggled on long-ish grass as the motor became quite warm after only a few minutes of running, but short grass it's a different animal, if you try and turn the Pro quickly you'll find that there is some on power under steer, which I think is quite normal for a RWD (rear wheel drive) car. I just had to let off the throttle a bit and the Pro hooked up nicely in the corners. While running around the garden I noticed that the Pro kept bottoming out in the bumpy sections of the garden.. don't forget all the weight is at the rear, so some spring collars were installed and it stopped bottoming out. The Pro is also very capable of popping wheelies on demand. On tarmac the Pro hooks up really well, even with the kit tires! It caught me out a few times.

I've yet to try the Pro on dirt, but looking at the step spikes on the rear, I don't see it having any problems hooking up I also want to try it on the local BMX park where there are a few jumps and ramps to catch some air.

Good Points:
All hop up already included,
Build quality,
Looks
2wd sealed gearbox, no stone are going to chip the spur/pinion

 

Bad Points:
Servo space is very limited, and mods had to be done to get a servo fitted,
Slop in the steering,
Speed motor, it’s quite slow
Bigger motor mount (for 300 size motors),
Philips screws

What improvements could be done to the Pro?
1) Take the slop out of the steering system
2) Different motor plate to accept bigger motors
3) Include a bigger motor or just leave it out
4) Larger servo compartment 

The Mini T Pro is distributed by Horizon Hobby UK and is available from all good model shops, and retails for around £115.00