The Savage XL is freaking awesome, even as nitro :)

[Finnster]

Not much more to add, just that I really, really like the Savage XL. I bought one recently w/ the intention to convert. I took out the K5.9 and dropped in a Losi 427 (.27) engine and good str servo and radio, is otherwise stock, and it kicks ass.

Huge ground clearance just rolls over everything. 3 spd gives the nitro even good power (even wheelies) but still plenty of speed for a big truck w/ massive wheels.

Also, taking it all apart to take measurements and test fit diff BL components, I found the truck surprisingly easy to work on. The only real pita things are nitro related.

Will prob stay nitro for a while and the custom conversion will be a winter project. In the meantime I'll just run it nitro and really enjoy it. Still hate the nitro engine, but the truck is fun enough to make dealing w/ the nitro worth it. Huge to HPI.

Great fraking truck,

[BL_RV0]

Nice, glad you have a good experience. It's rare to hear a good "stock form" review.

[TruckBasher]

Glad to hear that...

I've always liked Savage...My Savage X was really fun stock for (or maybe just my experience) but it was the nitro that made me sell it. It was more than a year (or two) ago where converting Maxx to BL was the most popular and finding components to convert Savage was a PITA.

Once I get my E-Slayer done and I have enough $$$ I might join you in converting this big truck....

[Finnster]

I've driven few MTs now and I think I've found the one I'll really keep.
While back it was a maxx. Fragile little thing broke easy, and it was a pain to work on. Frakin money pit to be reliable. Revo was much much better, but was still hard to work on in some ways. To service diffs half the truck had to be taken apart, and the getting into the tranny was also surgery. Handles quite well on the track tho and a pretty good off roader.

I got a muggy, liked the pan chassis layout and buggy style CD. Its a good and tough truck mind you, but IDK, just doesn't get me. The flat chassis looses ground clearance for really rough areas, and otherwise just seems too much like my racing truggy to be the goto basher for what I want. Seems easy to work on tho. Big + there.

Now the XL drives over everything. So far I've taken it over things I thought I'd surely get stuck in. Nope. With those huge terrapins, the clearance is just ungodly. I had heard not so great things with those tires (too tall) but really I was quite happy the way it handles. I mean you are not going to be doing high speed slalom with them, but thats what trugs are for. It is quite stable, I and roll it rarely. It really drives like a huge monster truck.

Now I almost got a Cen Genesis. Also seems like a heck of a truck, but the LHS has tons of HPI/savvy parts.

The only really annoying thing is having to take apart the tranny to adj the 2nd gear cent clutch. Fortunately the tranny has a top half that comes apart w/ minimal screws. The bottom half (inc drivelines and brake gear) are left untouched, so its not too bad. Not something you'd mess w/ all the time. Otherwise its normal Sav stuff. The tank gets lean @ 1/2, but all parts are beefy and tough out of the box. I'm sure the really hard bashers can find a way to break anything, but in stock form I'm quite impressed. No obvious weaknesses.

Ideally I'd like to drop the tranny all together and put in a simple CD or slipperential when it comes out, and do a std type bulkhead motor mount. I'm working on a CAD for it now, but its not a rush to convert it. The nitro is quite fun once you get it tuned and warmed up, but just getting to that point can be such a hassle, not to mention all the noise if you just want to go out in the neighborhood for a quick spin. Plus for a thing that's supposed to be gas powered, I seem to carry alot more battery operated items, on top of the needed sack of tools and fuel bottles. WTH? lol

[lincpimp]

I like the part about nitro needing all kinds of support tools to keep running, made me laugh!

I usually keep a wheel wrench and something to adjust the slipper in my pocket when I play. Thats it, no glow driver, or shaft start or fuel bottle. And no running if I flip for fear the engine will die...

I also find the humor in the elctic parts of a nitro vehicle. All of my buddies that have nitros have all kinds of issues keeping their receiver packs charged and forget to turn their radios off.

I also love the BS crap that nimh/nitro lovers always try to push. They say that lipos require special chargers, like nimhs don't? Only special item that lipos require is a balancer, $20 to $40. And anyone who charges any sort of battery needs a good charger, and most are lipo capable. They need to get rid of the mega1 and move on to a better charger anyway. That crap just makes me laugh, they are so stupid...

[Finnster]

Seriously. When I take out my BL stuff I carry a wheel wrench in case a wheel nut gets loose, and then maybe an extra battery in my pocket if I'm out for a bit. I used to carry an IR gun, but everything is pretty well set, so I don't even worry about that.

OTOH, with the freaking nitro I got a whole damn box of tools. IR gun, screwdriver to tune, wrench, starter wand, glow starter, rag to prime, Fuel bottle, locktite,, and also spare fuel bottle, spare glow plug, and extra air filters if I'm out for a bit and/or its dusty.
Also, you have to have a set of hexes as even locktite'd bolts shake loose after a little while.

On top of that, there are about 3 extra batteries that need to be charged: one for the starter wand (pull starts are for mowers,) one for the glow starter, one RX battery.
Now nitro guys go on how you can run a nitro all day if you've got fuel. IDK, but my big trucks drain down the RX batt pretty quick with the big servos. Seems like I get about 2hrs runtime before the Rx starts cutting out alot due to low voltage.

So I guess one more batt then right? Or...they get high cap lipos for RX, and a fraking ubec! Then you have to have balancers and all that stuff!
Meanwhile, 2 batts last me about 2 hrs bashing about. 3 batts and a charger is all I need for a day of racing.

Lastly, nitros guys also on about the noise, and how it makes it not a toy. Sorry guys, you are not fooling anyone, its still a toy. And what's even more embarassing is going to the park to play with such a toy truck, and people watching you fight with the stupid noisy toy truck trying to get it started for a half and hour, getting pissed at it and going home as it turns out the glow starter batt was a bit low and won't light the engine, and you didn't have another spare battery.....(like what happened on Fri lol)
Anyway, its till fun tho :)

[crazyjr]

Did you ever run the .36? I am curious about it. I had a .70 in an EK-4, real intresting setup and freakishly powerful when tuned right

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by Finnster

Seriously. When I take out my BL stuff I carry a wheel wrench in case a wheel nut gets loose, and then maybe an extra battery in my pocket if I'm out for a bit. I used to carry an IR gun, but everything is pretty well set, so I don't even worry about that.

OTOH, with the freaking nitro I got a whole damn box of tools. IR gun, screwdriver to tune, wrench, starter wand, glow starter, rag to prime, Fuel bottle, locktite,, and also spare fuel bottle, spare glow plug, and extra air filters if I'm out for a bit and/or its dusty.
Also, you have to have a set of hexes as even locktite'd bolts shake loose after a little while.

On top of that, there are about 3 extra batteries that need to be charged: one for the starter wand (pull starts are for mowers,) one for the glow starter, one RX battery.
Now nitro guys go on how you can run a nitro all day if you've got fuel. IDK, but my big trucks drain down the RX batt pretty quick with the big servos. Seems like I get about 2hrs runtime before the Rx starts cutting out alot due to low voltage.

So I guess one more batt then right? Or...they get high cap lipos for RX, and a fraking ubec! Then you have to have balancers and all that stuff!
Meanwhile, 2 batts last me about 2 hrs bashing about. 3 batts and a charger is all I need for a day of racing.

Lastly, nitros guys also on about the noise, and how it makes it not a toy. Sorry guys, you are not fooling anyone, its still a toy. And what's even more embarassing is going to the park to play with such a toy truck, and people watching you fight with the stupid noisy toy truck trying to get it started for a half and hour, getting pissed at it and going home as it turns out the glow starter batt was a bit low and won't light the engine, and you didn't have another spare battery.....(like what happened on Fri lol)
Anyway, its till fun tho :)

I love it, this needs to be made into a handout that all of us have when we play. It would save a bunch of question answering! I cannot remember the number of guys that said stuff about electrics. So I brought a buggy up to the lhs and played with it for 30 mins... They never said anything again. Especially after I raced everything they had.

[crazyjr]

I had a situation where the racers wanted my qualifier tossed out, Due to being too fast and i didn't have to tune my brushless. It stayed, despite complaints. Some moaned and complained that i didn't work hard enough, I fixed that. I showed up with my 3.3 revo (G2R the first week) and put the same spanking on them. I don't get much jazz about my brushless anymore, They complain about my driving though

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by crazyjr

I had a situation where the racers wanted my qualifier tossed out, Due to being too fast and i didn't have to tune my brushless. It stayed, despite complaints. Some moaned and complained that i didn't work hard enough, I fixed that. I showed up with my 3.3 revo (G2R the first week) and put the same spanking on them. I don't get much jazz about my brushless anymore, They complain about my driving though

Pity that most view being talented and smart as an unfair advantage... Just shows how dumb they are

[Finnster]

No, I pulled the K5.9 and actually have it for sale. Its a pricey motor and I don't love nitro that much. I bought the rather expensive truck knowing I could sell that off, and I got enough BL stuff to run it as soon as I get a mount together.

Besides I already have a losi 427 motor pulled from the muggy (truck also FS) that was already used (and thus worth much less.) I dropped that in and it actually does pretty well. I was even pulling wheelies with it Sat. Plus, I am not looking for a rocketship. I really wanted a big ass MT that would be great to drive over really rough brush, stumps and rocks, and I just don't want it that fast breaking stuff. Plus the motor pisses through fuel as it is. Amazing how fast a gallon goes. Gassers complaining that BL is expensive are freaking high on fumes.

It does seem like a really really beastly engine. It would be a lot of fun in the Muggy I think actually. The Mug is so big, and the lack of a tranny means it was pretty boggy w/ the .27, but I bet the bigger engine would really wake it up. I'd experiment, but its not worth popping the cherry on the .36 and hurting its resell.

Jesus, between nitros and needy women....takes 20 minutes to get them warmed up and tuned, assuming they feel like even starting that day, you gotta pretend you like they way it smells, and then all that trouble for a few minutes of fun. Then you get too spend twice that amount of time cleaning up afterwards lol. No wonder you only see guys into this hobby.

[MetalMan]

Originally Posted by Finnster

Jesus, between nitros and needy women....takes 20 minutes to get them warmed up and tuned, assuming they feel like even starting that day, you gotta pretend you like they way it smells, and then all that trouble for a few minutes of fun. Then you get too spend twice that amount of time cleaning up afterwards lol. No wonder you only see guys into this hobby.

Priceless

[plaviblue]

"Jesus, between nitros and needy women....takes 20 minutes to get them warmed up and tuned, assuming they feel like even starting that day, you gotta pretend you like they way it smells, and then all that trouble for a few minutes of fun. Then you get too spend twice that amount of time cleaning up afterwards lol. No wonder you only see guys into this hobby"



I see you have met my wife!!!

[Janezki]

Finnster (or someone with Savage XL), whats the inside distance between the chassis plates (TVP)?
Measurement in millimeters preferred since I'm really lost with imperial units...

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by Janezki

Finnster (or someone with Savage XL), whats the inside distance between the chassis plates (TVP)?
Measurement in millimeters preferred since I'm really lost with imperial units...

74mm