Model Forum / Radio Controlled / Land Models / February 2006

Firstly - welcome :)  You'll love the hobby - your wallet won't...

Secondly - all RC owners recommend their own truck - that's just how it
works :)  I have a Savage, I would strongly recommend it because they are
very, very good.  They take a hell of a beating, there are many options and
upgrades available.  However, a T-Maxx is cheaper, and with a few mods can
be pretty tough, but i still here a lot of horror stories about
transmissions going and things - and I personally don't think the 2.5r is a
suitable engine for a newbie, as they can be a pig to tune.  That said, lots
of people have them and love them.  The Revo is a very good package as well,
very tough.  Again though, I'm not a fan of the engine.  The new LST2 is
getting very good reviews everywhere as well.  Also, the MGT/MTA4 is very
highly regarded in a lot of places.  Basically, for me the choice would be
in this order, with 1 being my fav -

1. Savage X when it comes out
2. Savage 4.6 kit (although you may not be confident with a kit if you're
new to RC)
3. LST2 - I have heard nothing bad
4. MTA4/MGT .28 - hear lots of favourable reviews - but my mate had one and
I didn't like it, handling was very poor and after he bolted a load of alloy
on, it kept breaking (but i'm blaming the alloy sending force to places that
shouldn't feel it).
5. Revo - Again, good trucks, but not really for me.
6. T-Maxx - probably the weakest, and oldest design.  But, cheap now.

Savage

Savage

Savage

Having owned a T-Maxx and a Savage...(T-Maxx is gone, but the Savage is
still here!)
Hands down, no contest..get a Savage!
Just say NO to Traxxas
Don't do Traxxas
The root of all evil is Traxxas

Welcome!  You'll LOVE this hobby!  It is truly addictive.  You are already
ahead of the game by asking BEFORE you buy!  I own a Savage and a Sportwerks
Mayhem ST and have zero complaints about both.  I run with a T-Maxx and a
Rustler and kick the sh.t out of both hands down with either of my trucks in
both speed and durability.  Here's an example:

I just built a ramp that propels my trucks about 10' high and 25' long in
the air.  I beat both my Sav and Mayhem mercilessly on this ramp.  My bud
with the T-Maxx won't hit the ramp at anything more than a crawl because he
"doesn't want to break his truck."  The last thing on my mind when pulling
huge air is breaking my trucks because I know they won't break.  I'm more
worried about landing funny and crashing into myself (I jump towards me,
much more fun!)

In all honesty (I'm gunna get reamed for this) I'd take the Mayhem ST over
the Savage any day.  Faster, handles better, easier to tune, easier to work
on, flies better and much much easier to work on.

Traxxas sucks.

Doc

If your a great problem solver then buy a traxxas, if you like to work on
your trucks more than you drive them buy a traxxas if you want to race your
truck buy a traxxas revo, but if you want a pure bread basher buy a SAVAGE.

My 1st nitro truck was the traxxas tmaxx but the only reason I bought it at
the time was because of the lack of support locally for HPI products other
wise my first truck would have been a Savage.

I now own both and wouldn't (couldn't) sell my tmaxx only because I couldn't
get 1/8th of what I paid for it.  If I had a choice of starting all over
again knowing what I do now I would have gone the Savage from the very
beginning.

One thing that should influence you is how available parts are for what ever
truck you buy because you are going to need them.  Suspension arms and spur
gears, will get damaged sooner than later and you don't want to be waiting a
week or more for parts to arrive.

If you do buy a Savage kit or RTR get a with roto-start.

Cheers
Richard

For my first nitro I bought a T-Maxx.   I sold it a few weeks later.
My next nitro will be a 1/8 buggy or a Savage.

You said first truck.  Did you mean first nitro truck or first RC
vehicle?

If you mean first RC I would personally suggest you look at electric.
Charge battery, plug in battery, turn on, go!  If it does not go you
will get to learn valuable trouble-shooting skills.  Learning about
radios, servos, and all the little whatzits in the truck is bad enough
without also having to tune a motor.  Nitro vehicles have to be
manually tuned to adjust for air temperature.  They have to be broken
in when new.  They have more before run and after run prep.  They have
more routine maintanence.  Going from electric to nitro I had a lot to
learn and was glad I already had the electronics down.  Starting with
an electric will also let you get some basic driving skills down in a
slower vehicle.

I wish they would offer that advice at my local shop.  Some guy with a
tax refund wanting his first RC comes in and wants the biggest,
fastest, thing in the store so they sell him a Revo.  A few weeks later
there it is on the counter, for sale used.  They made a big sale, but
lost a repeat customer and probably lost him from the hobby forever.