Its safe to run, because unless you also upgrade your motor, the stock motor won't draw enough voltage from the battery to fry your FETs. I don't know the mAH rating on my lipo pack (its from an RC heli) but I can usually drive 20-30 minutes before needing a recharge.

Yes you will need a special charger, I would look on ebay for combo packs.

here you go-

http://cgi.ebay.com/XMODS-EVO-HD-Lit...#ht_500wt_1182

Thanks, so basically I can get a 7.4V Lipo or Lith. battery and a matching charger to be on the road again for longer huh? Thanks for the link too.

Not only will it run longer, but you will notice a sizable speed increase, as the higher voltage allows the motor to draw more power. Going from Nimh AAA's to Lipo gave me a 5+ mph increase on a stage 2 motor.

spend the money on ball bearing better than a better nimh battery set.

Yeah I'm in the process of gettin that too - ****it to think I was just gonna get this, put batteries and play... look at me now lol.