Kenmtb

Hi-
Awsome site!
I have a 1/18th scale 2WD Team Losi Mini Baja and love it. The little guy will run hard for about 10-12 minutes per charge. (7.2V NiMH battery).
One day I may upgrade. Speed is not a factor. Are there similar trucks with better endurance?
Thanks
Ken

ASSOCIATED_DRIVER

Endurance, or run time really depends on your battery's mah rating, the amount of milli-amps it can hold, the higher the rate the longer you can run.

Another thing that can help is a better ESC, some speed controls have a re-generative braking feature. This uses the momentum of the car and turns the motor into a generator and charges the battery when that car is rolling or braking.

hands without shadows

I have a mini t and it gets a good 25 minutes with a mod motor. What batteries are you running? I have an IB 1200 pack.

Kenmtb

Thanks for the Ideas. I currently have 4 1100 maH batteries. Upgrading the ESC sounds like a good idea if possible. Im thinking of getting another charger so I can always have a fresh battery available while the car is running.

DaveG55

Battery endurance is not so much a function of the truck as it is the batteries, the electronics (motor, esc, servos),gearing (fascinating but too complicated to get into for a simple battery question), your driving habits, the battery you use and your charging practices.
More efficient motors and electronics will extend run times but probably the most important thing is the battery itself followed closely by your charging practices.
You want a good quality battery pack with the highest mah rating that you can afford although if it's a choice between a 1400mah medium quality battery and a 1200mah high quality battery, go high quality.
Next is how you use and charge your battery. Never over discharge it - that is, run it till it won't even think about moving the car, never charge it while it's hot, charge it at 1C (C=battery capicity in mah) or lower - it will take longer, about an hour at 1C, but it's much better on the batteries and finally, if you have the means, cycle the battery every dozen runs or so. Nimh batteries aren't bad about getting a memory but they will do it over time and that will greatly shorten run times.
Oh, and incase you did not know; as a rule of thumb, more voltage = faster, more capacity (mah) = longer run times