HerrSavage

Hi, I live in Germany, and after reading around on the internet, etc.., I think I want to buy the Savage 25. Seems to be the best truck for a.) a beginner, b.) the price - though it is expensive, c.) availability of parts, and d.) durability and performance. A lot of people on German websites talk about the Thunder Tiger MTA 4 being the best in that price range, but for a first car the Savage seems pretty solid, and given its popularity and ubiquity in the MT world, it must be pretty good. In Germany though it's quite expensive - €500(MTA 4 I think is €420 or so). Anyhow, I've been shopping around, and found it on e-bay for €450, or €500 WITH the reverse module. So I guess my first question is more specific;

1.) How important is the reverse module?

And the second is more general:

2.) Is the Savage 25 really the best for €500 or less? I don't want to race or anything, just blast it around the park and jump over ****.. (The Revo seems pretty damn cool I have to admit, but the Savage is probably better for a beginner.. Or?) From the other shops I've seen, it would be possible to get something lesser for €300 or so, but my thinking is, just get something good from the get-go.

I'd appreciate any comments. Thanks.

RCDadChicago

My Feedback: (34)

If you can afford it or find a good deal get the Savage 4.6. I think alot of people that buy the 25 end up buying upgrades that the 4.6 comes with.

HerrSavage

I have to admit, the idea of building it myself appeals to me(and I like the blue body better and tuning options..), but on the other hand I figure, knowing ZERO about RC trucks, it might be better if my first truck is RtR..

quader98

on the one hand it's good to get it rtr cause you can just gas and go ,after breakin,but on the other hand when you break somthing,and you will break stuff,you'll know how to diagnose and repair your mt better with an ss kit,imo

RCDadChicago

My Feedback: (34)

The instructions are very easy to follow and as quader said, you'll need to take the truck apart in the future better to learn how it goes together from the start.

quader98

don't get me wrong pat,I'm not saying that the savvy is a piece of junk thats gonna break when you take it out of the box,like some other trucks i know cough cough t maxx cough.my first nitro was the savvy and i couldn't have made a better choice.if you beat the crap out of it it's eventually gonna break.i've taken my truck apart so many times due to inspections and repairs that i don't need the manual anymore but when i first started "forget about it"

HerrSavage

Thanks for the input. There's a hobby trade-fair near where I live next week, so I'm waiting to go there and hopefully find a deal. I've pretty much decided on a Savage(unless I either learn something totally new in the next week to change my view of things, or find a really good deal on a Revo..), so I think I'm going to get whatever is the best deal - whether Savage 25 RtR or SS kit(I like the look of the 25 Limited Edition as well).

Also, nobody has yet answered my question about the reverse module. How important is it? Should I get it right from the beginning?

ps I bought a stupid €100 electric car on e-bay(Bonzer), and smashed it about in half today at full speed into a goal-post - the second day I've had it. So much for my electro days I guess...

Bring on the Savage.

quader98

if your lazy or planning on racing get it,if not dont

azzman

Even if your not lazy, as long as you are just bashing around it is handy to have. I have 2 cars one without reverse and one with and Im not a lazy person but when ya just hacking around its brilliant to be able to chuck it in reverse and get out of that tight spot. NOTE: handy but not essential, if I was on a tight budget I would put the money toward something else.

Point to note aswell the SS4.6 body is clear AND NOT painted so to get that cool blue paint job your gonna have to buy another body or paint it yourself.
Personally I bought another body pre-painted and will get around to painting the other sometime! If you bash like me, your gonna wear the first body out anyway!!
The 4.6 also has no radio or servos which puts your total price up a bit, but in a way this is good because you can get a decent set of radio gear (if you have the money!).
I really enjoyed building my 4.6 from scratch, I found it fun and valuable for knowing how it goes together.
And I love the grunt this thing has!!


Cheers

HerrSavage

Thanks. If I do go that route, what do a decent radio and servos cost? I live in Germany though, so I guess the only people who could really answer that would have to live either here or in Western Europe.. Still, give me a brand and model name of something decent and I´ll look it up.

And - dumb but honest question - is there much I could screw up with a kit?

So it sounds like reverse for bashing is only if you´re lazy.. Guess I´ll skip it. The deal on e-bay basically includes it for free for the normal price of the Savage 25, or I can get it without for 50€ cheaper(which is the price of the reverse module itself..)

ianj

If I were you I'd get a Stadium truck from Academy like your mate Ian!. (getuned by the way) Quality piece! Or wait until the Leipzig Messe and see what we can nick! Reckon you'd fit a Savage up your jumper? Or we'll tell little Chris we've bought it and let him carry it out, if he gets caught, we'll tell them we've never met him before! They cant arrest a kid!

Another thing; ive ben looking at the instructions for my beast and I think it would have been much better to get a kit. I know its a lot more work , but then I would have learnt a lot more about the whole thing. Now that Im stepping into the tuning stage of my career(!) I wish id built it myself. At least id know what im looking at! KIT is the way ahead!

That Hummer on ebay.de looks nice. Might beat you to it and get myself one. RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRmmmmm RRRMMMM RRRMmm

gerwen

Is there any local hobby shops in your area? It's much better to have a truck that your hobby shop supports well. It's a bummer to be waiting for parts to come in by mail order. Just something to think about.

If you want to spread the cost out over time, get the 25 RTR and upgrade later, you will spend less up front, but likely more in the long run. If you go with the kit from the start, your up front cost will be higher, but you already have many (almost) neccessary upgrades.

It's probably worth the extra money to get the kit and decent radio gear. Look for 3 channel FM like Airtronics MX-3, Hitec SRX or Futaba 3PM. You can go with cheaper, but you may just end up ugrading again in the future. Most radios will come with servos, but for steering you will want something stronger. Look for something over 100oz/in of torque at 6V. Hitec 645MG and Futaba S3305 are popular choices.

Get a rechargeable hump pack and charger for the receiver. It's one of the best upgrades for any truck you may get.

Good luck with your decision.

Oh, and read, read, read. Here and elsewhere on the web you will find tons of information which will help you get started and be able to recognize common problems. The more you read, the less frustration you will have when you get the truck in your hands. Nitro trucks can be finicky and very frustrating at times. You will be better prepared to handle it.

stanmart

I tell you one thing. You wont break it. Ive punished mine and it hasnt broke yet. HPI stuff is rock solid. Im probably going to stick with the HPI Brand. Next buy is a hellfire. HPI has excellent customer service too. They will send warranty parts on a dime. If it breaks they will replace it.

Now HPI Cars and Trucks may not be the 1st choice for serious racers etc. There stuff is so nice and reliable that I will never switch. Its made my venture back into rc an enjoyable one.

Funny thing is i was in my LHS the other day and a guy brought in a broken Losi Super Truck. LOL. I was thinking my savage never breaks like that. heheh

HerrSavage

Thanks for the info. I think I´ve narrowed it down to the following: Savage 25 RtR(most likely) or SS25, Revo(if I can find a deal for 500€ or less..), or, one of several cheaper options(it´s expensive in Germany!..) - first, I found a Tamiya TNX for 370€(Savage 25 here costs 500), or, what all the Germans seem to rave about, the Thunder Tiger MTA 4(about 380€ RtR). 500€ is a lot of money, so I want to make sure I get the right thing. Unfortunately I´m still not totally convinced that the Savage is worth it (over the others..)

Or am I wrong?........

stanmart

Revo is a nice lookin truck too. I think the savage is a little tougher and the small problems i did have with my savage mainly being clutch shoes is a revo problem as well. Dont get a tamiya monster truck. You will regret it. Stick with the good brands. I got respect for mister tamiya but they dont make anything remotley close to savage in quality.

HerrSavage

****! Just saw a very impressive and convincing video clip with a couple of Revos!... Does the fact that they're 1/10 really make a difference? I mean, the wheels are the same size...

Going to the hobby trade fair today, so hopefully I'll make a decision by the end of the day.

Yes, there is a hobby shop in my town, but I don't much care for the guy. He's a humorless bore, and seems cynically bent on not helping people - so they'll break stuff and have to come back and buy parts from him. I think's he a "profi" racer and looks disdainfully down on us mere simpletons who primarily want to have ...FUN. He's the main HPI dealer here as well.

HerrSavage

Well, went to the hobby trade fair today, and............................................... ........bought a Savage 25, with a black Hummer body. Think I got a decent deal, but it was still expensive(€470 - with batteries, nitro-starter kit, 2.5 liter nitro, plus perhaps most importantly break-in help tomorrow...)

Looks f'ing cool...(a smiley face here would be a gross understatement - BIG FAT GRIN all day!!!)

What do you guys in the UK pay for a Savage 25?

miskin

i paid £330 complete with everything 2 months ago should have been £369 but i haggled

nice looking truck you have there, does yours have the diff and steering upgrade out of the box?

HerrSavage

It's the Spec 2, if that's what you mean...

I took it to a race center today to get the guy to break it in for me. He didn't seem as.... well, gentle as I expected. He didn't do two complete tanks with it just sitting on a block like on the DVD. He did a bit with it just sitting there, but it seemed to me he did a lot of playing with the throttle, and then tuning the needles throughout. After the first tank it looked like maybe 1/2 gas, off, 1/2 gas, off, around the track, witht the occasional full-throttle burst, and more and more of that towards the end of the second or maybe third tank. Then I took it around for maybe three tanks, but never really got too high with the throttle(not enough room - thing's too damn fast..) - maybe several two or three second full-throttle spurts. I was mostly just trying to control it though.. Was what he was doing "heat-cycling"?

So all together I guess I've been through maybe 3/4 of a liter(of 20% Tornado nitro). Won't have time to touch it this week, but I'll probably take it out next weekend if the weather's decent. Anything I should do in particular? (for ex, should I let the first tank just run through, or go easy, or hard?) Is the motor broken in now?................. He said it was, and that all I really needed to do was tank it up and go, and that after two minutes it should be warmed up enough. I'm assuming, based on what he said(and keep in mind, what he said was IN GERMAN, and my German isn't so great.. - though I think I learned that "mager" means "lean".. 'Course I don't know what "lean" means........ Just kidding.), that I don't need to mess with the needles - and frankly don't want to.

Sorry for the dumb questions, but this is something of a learning process.. Any advice would really be appreciated. Thanks.

HerrSavage

While I'm at it, couple more questions..

I saw some good deals on the Limited Edition 25, and was also interested in the SS kits, but somebody told me that when you get down to it, tuning parts are more fashion than function. Is that true? How much better are the purple aluminum springs, or the alumimum exhaust pipe?

Next, should I get a five-cell pack? What difference would it make?

Also, not so important, but just out of curiosity, what do you guys have to pay for nitro? €27 for 2.5 liters, here in Germany.

HerrSavage

Well a guy on a German website said just go kind of easy on the next two tanks, then it should be OK. Or is the engine already broken in and it just doesn't matter? Sorry to be so persistent, but I want to do this right.

I've got 20% Tornado fuel, if that helps..

gerwen

5 cell pack is a convenience. A big one. I would hate to have to swap AA's all the time. I hate going into the radio box. I set it up so that i have my 5 cell pack in the box with an external charge jack. I just plug my charger into the jack and charge er up.

It may also save you some runaways. With a rechargeable pack you learn how much run-time you have on a charge. If you keep it charged before you run, then you can avoid a dead battery. With alkalines, you run it till they're dead and risk a runaway.

Bash-m-up

My Feedback: (7)

I pay $28 for one gallon of fuel at a time, we use the standard measuring system here so I'm not sure how many liters that really is off hand, maybe if I was guessing would say about 3.5 liters. Also to respond to you question of fashion and function, the springs will tend to lean towards the softer side of the black ones on the 25 RTR and the pipe does offer a little more low to mid range power and plus it sounds so much better than the stock Black composite pipe. Some items is just fashion though, such as the Aluminum body post, it won't make you faster or handle better, but they sure look good. Same with colored chassis some might be a little thicker, but won't make you perform any better. In the end only you will be driving your truck so ultimately only you know whether or not what items you need to have for your truck to make it look nice, if you want performance ask around, see what works for everyone else then you make that call too.

Bash-m-up

My Feedback: (7)

Okay, I just looked and the U.S. gallon is equal to 3.75 liters so I pay $28 for 3.75 liters of 25% nitro, now the conversion from Euro's to Dollars, well that is beyond me, I'll let you figure that out. I hoped I helped.

...savage.. .

I too have a savage 25.My mates and I can't believe the amount of abuse it can take.I have fitted a rechargeable hump pack and a failsafe.I also have a motorsaver air filter.I would recommend you invest in all 3 of them...........