you would be suprised what can racing NIMH packs survive :)
used to run in my Neu powered max 16 racing NIMH cells and they did quite well (before they exploded after 3 months of heavy running without much rest after run I put them on charger @ 5.5Amps, 4-5 cycles in one afternoon )
Radek
V4 D8 - RX8, XERUN 4168SD
F1-09 - Tekin RS Pro, 17.5t Redline, 2S LiPo
Sakura Zero S - LRP, Saturn 20T, 2S LiPo
*EX-10 Eurus*