Anyone here into RC stuff? Nitro off-road..

[021411]

Just wondering if anyone in here knows about RC nitro off-road cars. I'm looking at the HPI Savage XL and need some advice. I don't feel like registering in an RC forum and getting flamed by 13 year olds. lol

[kwelz]

I used to be into it pretty heavily, although I did mostly aircraft. I got rid of most of the stuff. Only have a Helicopter and a TMAXX left.

The Tmaxx was a good one, although it was replaced by the Revo. HPI made good stuff as well but I only messed with their on road stuff.

[JBecker 72]

the savage is a decent truck but its a pain in the ass to work on.

I prefer the 1/8 scale "truggy" style the best. there are so many choices in that category, but what has the best parts support currently.

[021411]

I think I'm going to be more of a basher than a racer so I need something that can take a beating and still run like a champ. Everything so far that I've read online points to the Savage. The XL model looks like it has beefed up components out of the box. My budget is $600 and the XL falls right under it.

[Gentoo]

Must you have gas? Electric is alot easier for a novice to get into and with brushless motors and lipo batterys can go as fast or faster. The 1/8 stuff is nice and all, but very expensive and not alot of places to run because of the size/speed they put out. If you decide the hobby is not for you, you are going to lose alot of coin trying to sell.

For what you want to do, I would suggest getting:

Traxxas Slash 4x4 Brushless 2.4GHz RTR (http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXYNB0**&P=0) for $365. It has everything you need to get started. Only gripe is that the charger is a crappy wall wart that takes all night to charge the battery.

For a better charger it is really hard to beat the Thunder AC6 (http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html) for $55. It is a bit complicated to use (have to use menus and make choices), but will last if you decide to get into lipos and there is ample documentation on the web for it. You will need a charge lead (http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXVPF2&P=7) for it.

RCTech (http://www.rctech.net/forum/) is a good forum, and provided alot of help for me when I got back into the hobby last fall after a 15 year hiatus.

Edit: I forgot to mention, go to your local hobby shop and see what they stock. You will break parts. Its part of the hobby. And it is alot nicer and easier to drive to the local store and buy what you need to get back running than it is to have to mail order parts and wait for them to arrive, plus pay shipping on a $3 part.

[PaulL]

+1 on finding out what parts your local shop has.

I used to play with 'em quite a bit and I had various versions of the Savage, followed by a couple of Revos. I'd say the Savage was probably the toughest, but as mentioned before, it's a little harder to wrench on. If you're dead set on nitro, I think it'll be a good truck for you. I'm unfamiliar with the latest electric options, but I know they hold their own pretty well. When I got out of it, the brushless tech was starting to kick butt pretty good. I know if I get another one, it'll be one of the brushless micro monster trucks. Plus, my wife has forbid me to ever buy another nitro R/C vehicle... :D

[chadbag]

I don't do trucks/cars, just planes, but after being out of it for 10+ years and then coming back in, the new electric motors and lipo batteries are where it is at. Most plane people have left gas motors for electric. If they can use electric now for a 65 size or 120 size pattern plane or full acrobatic plane (not just the backyard flyers) they can drive an offroad truck as well. When I started going back to the RC stores a few years ago I was totally floored by the changes since the mid 90s (94 was the last year I flew a power plane until around 2006).

Having said that, I still use gas on my non glider planes (gliders obviously have no motors) because I already own it and have it. I have not invested new money except for some servos and receivers in a long time and if I were to start over again it would be electrics.