Looking for input on Nitro MT's

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

So, I've gathered that many of the members here are very active MT racers. So far my interests in RC have been nitro touring cars, mainly for sunday parking lot fun. This limited activity doesn't really hold the interest of the 12 son, or my 12 year old mentality, so we are thinking about adding the nitro MT to the fleet.
Knowing that many of you have lived and learned about what works and what breaks, I am asking for your experiences.

My boy likes the Revo. I think the $450 price range is pretty reasonable. I would like to know what y'all think is a good all around truck (or truggy) for non-racers. We would probably subject this truck to some light jumping and dirt action, but hopefully not so much that I would be wrenching on it constantly.

Please let me know what your favorites are! I appreciate it!

DaveC

[thenewguy821]

If you want a good all around truck, for a reasonable price, you are looking in the right direction with the Revo. Also, Do not Rule out the Savage (About $400 RTR). Both are VERY durable, and will give you a lot of enjoyment.

We would probably subject this truck to some light jumping and dirt action, but hopefully not so much that I would be wrenching on it constantly.

As for "some light jumping", we often subject these trucks to BIG AIR, and lots of abuse. The Revo and Savage both hold up great. There are other trucks out that are fun to drive, and in some cases a bit faster, but if Durability is an issue, I would stick with one of these.

Since you are in Naperville, you should try to come up to the Track (Leisure Hours) Saturday, and watch the racing. You can see how well the trucks handle, and take abuse. Besides, I'm sure your son would enjoy watching the races too.

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

I did see the upcoming races scheduled at LH. We do plan on checking it out. It's probably only 35 minutes from my house.

I didn't want to base a purchase decision on racing trucks, because I do see that many racers put lots of additional money into a racer to make it bulletproof. Important stuff if you are racing, but perhaps overkill for occasional drivers, like us.

I did look at HPI trucks as I own 2 HPI cars. To me it seemed that the Revo was a step above the Savage in the engineering details. You pay more but you get more. I also considered the TMaxx, but the trick suspension on the Revo has the WOW factor going for it.

When it comes to repair parts and upgrades, it seems both brands are very well supported.

[RCDad]

I've been working on an e-maxx for my 8 yo. My main concern is the torque and speed. I don't want him to run it into his legs or something. Changed up the gearing and I'll see how that goes, I may put some really huge tires on the front.

I bought him a Parma School Bus body for it (still need to paint it). It's already got RPM arms. I figure its something he'll enjoy now and more as he gets into racing (or bashing).

[Michowski]

savage for bashing and revo or lst for racing. Right out of the box those will perform good for racing or bashing. If your going to be doing a mix either revo or savage. Both trucks are just as durable and will perform good doing both. Its kind of hard to make a bad choice here cuz now theres trucks out that do everything so its not hard to find one for you. And if you get revo or savage there are tons of people at the track who can help ya with them.

[MX_KEVIN]

Davec... There are a few of us that run the Revo nearly stock and do well. Its also my opinion that the Revo is a tad more dependable than a Savage. Ive owned the T-Maxx and Savage, and if i were to buy again it would be the Revo. Awsome suspension and handling right out the box. Revo motor worked better for me than my Savage.25 also.

[John78]

I think either truck would be great for what you want. Another plus is that most hobby shops stock all parts for the trucks.

[ATA_Thrash]

Revo...especially if your planning on going to the track.

[MX_KEVIN]

Does the Savage come with reverse? I think thats an option you buy and install. I had the SS Savage, not sure about the RTR.

And think about working on them or tuning them...The revo is a dream come true, you could change out your diffs in about 20 min each, just an easy truck to work on. Ask Mr Tune on savage time. Probably around a week. :o And lets not forget about adjustible turnbuckles, adj. camber, caster, roll center, threded shocks, and all the cool tools they give you to adjust and maintain your new revo. Dont think you get any of that on a savage

If that dont sell you, noyhing will. And no I dont work for traxxas, just a regular big car mechanic.

[Smokey]

I like my Savage. I got it at the end of this summer. I mostly just bash it but i do go out to the track right now at least because it's indoors... I have no great aspirations for winning races or anything like that and i'll probably go back to back yard bashing once the weather gets nice. I got this truck hoping it would be durable and fun and didn't break everytime I took it out. The truck has not dissapointed.

I have broken these parts:

a. 2 spur gears ( missadjustment on my part both times) $5
b. a c hub (Ran into a fence at about 35 MPH) $3
c. Gas tank (Cartwheealed over 3 sets of railroad tracks without a body) $10

That has been about it. Everything else I pretty much bought for the truck has been a hop-up of some kind or things that wear out or use up(fuel, oils,clutch shoes, glow plugs). The engine is strong seemed fairly easy to tune even though this is my first one ever. The engine does run hot 270-290 but I'm told that a different head will bring that down 10 degrees. (haven't tried this because I'm trying to determine how long the engine will last running at those temps) Right now I have aaprox 3 very hard galons of 20% Monster Brew and it is a very strong RTR motor. It has reall good torq which is important when you are bashing, climbing things and enough horse power to get the job done at the race track. It is rated for something like 2.5hp@28000 RPM. Want to mention that the Revo is the same speed or maybe a little faster (depending on the conditions) so HP is not everything. Traxxas gets alot of power out of that 2.5 (.15 engine right?) and with the Revo being slightly lighter than a Savage and all..

I did get the SS 25 kit and even though this was my first REAL RC car kit I got it togather in approx 12 hrs. The manuals are well designed have life size pictures of parts and screws and such. They provided the essential tools other than a wheel wrench and a philips screwdriver (don't know if this is different with the RTR) I already had a socket that worked for both the wheel nuts and glow plug so I used that. I used AA batteries for my reciever pack and it worked very well for bashing and lasted a good long time(few hours of runtime). I have since gotten the reciever pack for added servo power and speed.

I LOVE my savage and it has been very reliable(durable) and ALOT of FUN!

My friend has a Revo and I did like driving it although it almost felt "electric"(very sensetive and almost too sensetive), to me at least which my friend really liked and it makes the Revo really good on the track. Me being a newb to RC I didn't like that part so much because I had trouble controling it. But I did like it overall and would buy one if it was a little cheaper. (not that it isn't worth the $500 but I just don't have it) But I would not ever get rid of my savage.

Driving the Savage is a not as "electric" but still very exhilirating and just as much fun as the Revo (and in my biased opinion it is more fun). It has a "real" monster truck feel to it with the higher stance and aluminum chasis plates it looks tough and it is tough. I have bashed it anywhere and everywhere where I could and it has held up awsome! Very quick truck can climb most things but has limits. Extreme speed makes for some really nice jumping very easy to control in air and is very even and stable in flight. The Revo is an awsome jumper also and since it is lighter a smaller bump will launch it higher than the Savage but that does not hold true with bigger jumps.

I have NEVER bottomed out the suspension! There is a little test you can do to test the bottom limits of a suspension:

a. Lift the truck by the front and rear bumper.
b. with the truck not running (important) lift truck to shoulder level
c. Let go of truck straight down on all four wheels

If you do this on a wooden deck you will know when you have maxed out the suspension. I could not lift my truck high enough without using a chair or something (I'm 6') to bottom it out. Try it.... It is really cool when you do other trucks at the same time. I saw this in a store where the guy picked up a T-maxx, MGT, and Savage and dropped them on to a wooden floor. The Tmaxx and MGT both bottemed from about 5 feet or so but the guy couldn't get the Savage to bottom. I always thought that in it's self can save alot of damage off the truck.

All the trucks you will look at will have thier pros and cons and
it is a tough choice since I have seen my friends Revo run great and not so great and same with mine. I'm guessing that how you run the vehicle and how you maintain it has alot more to do with what you get out of them (at least when you are talking about the Revo, Savage,MGT,LST) And I'm getting better at taking care of it and I'm learning alot and I'm sure it will just keep getting better.So good luck on your choice. I'm pretty sure that you'll be happy with either so if you like the design of the Revo go for it and if you like the ruggedness and pure muscle of the Savage it is also a good choice. Have fun.

Hope my 2 cents helped....

[thenewguy821]

The engine is strong seemed fairly easy to tune even though this is my first one ever. The engine does run hot 270-290 but I'm told that a different head will bring that down 10 degrees.

The first engine is almost always the hardest to "Tune", because you haven't gotten the feel for tuning yet. I couldn't get a good tune on my T-Maxx when I had it. One of the guys from the board came out with a new Savage, and asked for help tuning it. In a very short time, I had his engine running great. In general, Big Block motors ( .21 and larger) tend to be a bit more forgiving with tuning. As for the temps, My Savage ran great in the 250-270 range. A larger cooling head can bring down temps, but you should tune with the stock head, then switch to the larger head, keeping the same tune. Some people think that running a bigger head will let you lean out the engine more to bring temps back up, but this also results in lower lubrication, which shortens engine life.

From what I have heard, the Revo engine is easier to tune than the Maxx 2.5, I'm still not sure if this is because of the additional engineering Traxxas put into the engine, or the experience people have gained from tuning other engines since their first 2.5. Like I mentioned earlier, the more engines you tune, the easier they become to tune...

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

To all, thanks for the feedback (Smokey, that was $2, not 2 cents!!!!)

SO it looks like a Revo, probably. Not too many TMaxx fans came out with strong opinions on this subject, so it must be a 2 truck race here, between Revo and Savage owners.

Next thread: What is the ONE best bang for the buck upgrade for the stock Revo?

Thanks guys!!

[Tex]

Smokey, you want your truck to bottom out as it doesn't hurt it. If it doesn't bottom out from a 4 feet drop the springs are too stiff or the oil in the shocks is too thick.

What springs and oil are you using?

If I was to buy a RTR truck it would be the REVO hands down. Good basher and racer. Very durable also.

[rocco79]

I'd get a savage! NOTHING will out bash this truck hands down...... I think any truck can be an excellent racer. Some just take more work, tuning and of course cash. I think at leisure hour the revos are very VERY hard to beat in the hands of a desecnt driver. At a ruff outdoor track i think any well maintained, tuned truck could win... savage, tmaxx, tnx,revo ect. Luck, skill, your truck running the whole race all play into who wins.

Just like tonight a leisure hour . The A main was a Hotbodies truggy, 2 revos, and a "throughy flogged" Savage. Smart money woulda beat on the hb with the colari motor, but ends up he broke. Then it was just two revos for 10 mins( the savage was having mulitipe problems so he was in and out)

....... Anybody can win at anytime

[rocco79]

To all, thanks for the feedback (Smokey, that was $2, not 2 cents!!!!)

SO it looks like a Revo, probably. Not too many TMaxx fans came out with strong opinions on this subject, so it must be a 2 truck race here, between Revo and Savage owners.

Next thread: What is the ONE best bang for the buck upgrade for the stock Revo?

Thanks guys!!

O. S. 18!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

Rocco, thanks for the engine suggestion. I appreciate all of the feedback from those that have traveled this road before me. It's a lot of money to find out the hard way!!

Davec-nrs4

[Smokey]

It dosen't bottom because the shocks are way longer and it has that much shock body that it will cushion a 7+ foot fall. As far what's in them it is a SS Kit so I built it:

1. Stock HPI shocks HPI quote "new stiffer purple springs on all 8 oil-filled shocks - still the
longest shocks in the monster truck class "
2. They have 2-hole pistons and 10wt AE silicone oil in them. They used to have stock HPI
motor type oil 10wt but I replaced that because when it gets real cold the Stock oil
looses its viscosity.
3. no spring pre-load spacers.

I've done at least 10-12 ft of air and the truck lands without bottoming or bounce just a nice firm landing.

It is built well and can take such jumps many times and in fact I have not broken any suspension parts from any jumps (good or bad).

[Tex]

I've never broken suspension parts from bottoming out when landing on all four wheels.. It's when you land awkward (sp?) that you break an arm or bend a shock.

[Mr. Tune]

Yup. I learned it's all in the landing. Many parts breakage, suspension and drivetrain, can be greatly reduced just by landing correct.

[rocco79]

No offense smokey, but trust me....... Your truck with that setup bottoms out..... It Just happens very quickly and maybe your not seeing it happen but ,with 10wt oil im almost positive its happenin. Its not a bad thing if it does all trucks should, Buggies slap almost all the time

[DAVEC-NITRO-RS4]

Thanks to all the reply'ers (sp?) on this subject. The new REVO is in the mail. I look forward to someday being a big league basher-racer with it. It's just I hate breaking things, especially $450 things, but that's where half the fun is, I guess.

Spring's a comin' !!