Savage X 4.6 "looking to buy but need expert advice on RC cars"

damien666

hi all im looking to pick up a HPI Savage for a new hobby, i have 3-4weeks to decide which one is best for me as a new RC racing hobby. on my next payday ill be looking to buy so please if your quite familiar with these help me out alittle

http://www.hpieurope.com/kit-info.ph...=en&partNo=873

so i have never owned one of these but im looking for something i can throw around all terains wet/dry and get some big air without the worry of killing or braking the car.. ive decided HPI savage simply because after reviewing alot of them it seems to be the most versatile for my needs..

my questions are

1) so all have reverse gears? if not which do as i want this feature.
1a) for them that do whats sort is best to use?
2) will the savage be a good car for a noob who wants fun and all terain driving?
3) is a stock car best to buy or are some extra add-ons a must to get best out of it?

please advise me in anyway you can for a complete noob

thankyou

SpdyRobi · 04-28-2012, 16:07 | posts: 69 | Location: Ontario, Canada

It really depends on what you want to do with your rc car. If you want to take it off some jumps and just drive it around your yard or on the street anything will work really.

HPI is decent for something you just want to play with in the yard but around here parts are harder to get so make sure parts availability is good as if you break a part you don't want to be waiting for months to be able to get the parts to fix your car/truck. Been there done that with my GS Storm 1/8th scale so I try not to beat on it to much anymore lol

Not all vehicles have reverse if it's electric you would have reverse however with gas powered vehicles you only have forward unless you have the savage or the Traxxas Tmax.

The savage is good for a fun all terrain vehicle but I would take the Traxxas Tmax as it has more after market parts and parts availability so if you decide to modify your vehicle later on you can do so.

Stock cars/buggies are good depending on the brand around here everyone runs a LOSI or Team associated because of parts availability and the design and options for tweaking suspension etc are higher. Basically it all comes down to what you want to do out of it. Buggies are more for racing IMHO where as fun all terrain a monster truck would be a better choice to me.

Hope that helps if you have any more questions feel free to ask. Use to race all the time but been out of it for awhile now.

NoviceRei · 04-28-2012, 16:23 | posts: 2,115 | Location: Philippines

first, get a brand that has support from a local hobby shop near you. it really doesn't matter if it's tamiya, hpi, ae, losi, traxxas, etc.. as long as it's available in your locale, it's good. i know parts can be obtained overseas but it would be a pain as you could imagine.

next, for bashing HPI and traxxas monster trucks are good. but i would recommend you take a look at the 1/8 truggies, or even 1/8 buggies. they can also be used for parking lot bashing, but also on the "competitive" side of the hobby.

and last, decide which one you would like gas or electric.

that should pretty much narrow down your choices to just one or two.

I personally own and race 1/10 Electric touring cars (TCs) here in the Philippines. and I chose electric because i don't have much time to clean my cars every week after races.

damien666 · 04-28-2012, 17:40 | posts: 11,834 | Location: nottingham, uk

hi both

ok near where i live are huge grassy fields/ditches and also a few gravel pits that i can jump/take them for a spin one, a have many local shops that stock replacement parts within 10miles of me for almost all RC cars. i would like to go nitro for the engine type if this is ok, and really want reverse gear,

i hope this narrows it down alittle for you both to help me more, im defo going to look into the Traxxas Tmax as ive not even read anything about them and also look into the 1/8 truggies, or 1/8 buggies. but i would like alot of hight clearance due to the style of driving i plan to do, i not be doing much if any carpark/road driving and dont want to get my car stuck in mud 24/7

NoviceRei · 04-28-2012, 18:33 | posts: 2,115 | Location: Philippines

any known good brands nowadays are practically bullet proof, to a certain point. and as long as there's a shop near you, there's really no need to worry.

anyway, i think you'd enjoy most the truggies. they're less "fiddly" than buggies, and more forgiving.

oh, and while you're at it, you might also want to look at the HPI Baja 5T (truck) or 5B (buggy). look for vids of these things on youtube.. there are lots of them in there.

and Welcome to the world of RCs!

SpdyRobi · 04-29-2012, 02:48 | posts: 69 | Location: Ontario, Canada

Novice good point about the truggies however they don't have reverse like the OP wants. I'm not up to date on the new rc stuff but I'm still a fan on the Tmaxx and the reverse is nice with a lot of aftermarket availability, all depends on the budget and what you want to spend. Also gas powered is nice for not having to charge batteries all the time but everytime you take it out you have to retune it for the weather of that day so you will have to decide if your ok with that also. If your not planning on getting into the competition side of things then a monster truck would be the better choice IMHO.

SpdyRobi · 04-30-2012, 02:52 | posts: 69 | Location: Ontario, Canada

I watched and read a lot of reviews and I have to say that the HP Savage has a better quality truck then the Traxxas Tmaxx does. You'll enjoy that Savage x 4.6 if you decide to go that route.

Another thing worth considering is getting a battery pack for the receiver instead of using the standard 4 aa battery receiver pack as those tend to die a lot faster then the actual 5 or 6 battery receiver packs as they will have more miliamps then typical AA batteries. Just a thought

NoviceRei · 04-30-2012, 04:49 | posts: 2,115 | Location: Philippines

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpdyRobi

Novice good point about the truggies however they don't have reverse like the OP wants. I'm not up to date on the new rc stuff but I'm still a fan on the Tmaxx and the reverse is nice with a lot of aftermarket availability, all depends on the budget and what you want to spend. Also gas powered is nice for not having to charge batteries all the time but everytime you take it out you have to retune it for the weather of that day so you will have to decide if your ok with that also. If your not planning on getting into the competition side of things then a monster truck would be the better choice IMHO.

well, I agree. for bashing, nothing really beats monster trucks. they're kinda "go anywhere, play anywhere" kind of RCs. but bashing on fields and parking lots by yourself gets old after some time. and even with your buddies, it still gets old and you would eventually want to hit a track.

i'm not dissuading you from MTs. but think carefully on what you would really want. as buying a kit, then realizing you want the other one is no fun when these kits are so expensive.

SpdyRobi · 04-30-2012, 23:37 | posts: 69 | Location: Ontario, Canada

I use to bash around the front yard of a friends house. Use to cut the grass extra short just so we could race around the two trees in the yard. That was until I was introduced into some indoor carpet racing and I got hooked had the micro cars, 1/12th scale 1/10th truck and a 1/8 scale I won in a raffle. Use to be in it hardcore until I started working full time and ran out of time to have some fun maybe this summer I'll pull the old gear out.

If the OP can give up the reverse option I would highly recommend a truggie I def want one just don't know if I would have the time to make it worth while to get one now lol