FaceDoc

Hi all,

Before any flame war starts I want to preface this saying that I did read many old threads on this subject. I'm still having a hard time with my decision so I was thinking you all may help me make my decision. It appears on this forum there are many more Savage XS owners than MERV owners do I'll keep that in mind.

I had a stint into nitro R/C cars about 10-15 years ago... I have a 4Tec and an RC10GT. I've decided to get back into the hobby, only this time with Lipos! I plan on using this vehicle mostly in empty parking lots, but occasionally in grass, dirt etc. I'm probably NOT going to modify it much, just enjoy driving it. I'm stuck between the ERevo VXLand the Savage XS, both seem like great trucks. I'm more interested in whichever is easier to work on and breaks less. Also if there is a notable difference between the two on-road. Everything I've read makes me lean towards the Savage, but I'm not sure it'll be much fun in a parking lot. The ERevo definitely seems to have an advantage in hopups, but as mentinoed before that is not very important to me.

Thanks a bunch,

Facedoc

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

I will start off by saying that I have owned both the 1/16 Revo and the Savage XS... I actually sold off all 3 of my 1/16 Revo's when the Savage XS came out. Personally I prefer the Savage XS over the MERV. The Savage XS can go alot of places that the MERV can't go. Both can take a beating but the biggest difference is that the Savage XS can take 1/10 electronics and batteries where as the MERV can't, without being modified for the 1/10 electronics to fit.

Here is a picture of the MERV next to a Savage XS.

mwarner57

I think a fairer comparison would be between the 1/16 Summit and the Savage XS if you want to compare oranges to oranges. Jang at URC reviewed both, and seemed to like the Summit better.
Savage XS Review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSd1uSHStn0
1/16 Summit VXL Review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRP8J2y6_QY

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

I've got the XS and love it. As you can see from the picture above, it's a bit larger than the MERV, which means it's more versatile with terrain options. I have taken mine places the 1/8 Flux HP can't go. This truck can take a beating. The only parts I have ever broken that put me into down time, was one rear upright, and a front drive cup. My front and rear diff bevels are missing a tooth or two, but still they can harness the 3s power quite well. The drive cups are weak points on the truck, mostly the ones at the tranny and going into the diffs. I just recently did a test, and the XS will do 40+mph on a 2s 25c lipo, and it will do standing backflips on the 2s too.Stock tires don't have a lot of grip on many surfaces. I upgraded to Pro-Line Badlands. The truck takes 2.2" tires which is great, along with accepting 1/10 scale electronics, as T9Dragon stated. When they first came out, the esc's had issues, but I think they have resolved this. All in all, I think the $300 RTR price for this "little beast" is a great price. A lot of bang for your buck, and plenty of power when you need it. Look at it this way... I can smoke a 1/8 Flux HP running 6s with my Flux XS on 2s at a BMX track.

yakfish

My Feedback: (27)

I haven't owned either of them. I have compared them side to side though. If I were to buy one of them over the other it would be the Savage XS. The Mini Revo just felt brittle to me, and the savage seemed to be of better quality and built more solid.

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

Savage XS is still a better all around truck then the Summitt. The same things that limit the MERV also limit the Summit.

mwarner57

Oh, forgot what you were said about on-road performance. You probably would want the MERV over the Summit in that case. I have mine set up with 17mm axle extenders, Dirt Hawgs and stiffer springs, and it works awesome on and off the pavement. I am running 1/10 electronics with the exception of the battery. I get > 20 minutes of runtime from a 2S 2200Mah, so no big deal. I think the Savage kind of loses its edge here since there is nothing to gain by the larger size. The MERV is definitely easier to work on. I can remove the motor with 2 bolts. Also can convert to rally, monster, or short course with a few parts changes. Only break in two years has been a cracked chassis. Not hating on the Savage XS and was thinking about getting one also, but thought I would share my MERV experience.

t9dragon

My Feedback: (11)

Have you ever owned the Savage XS? Or have you ever driven one?

Rac3rX

MERV all the way. Ohh and correction YES the MERV can take 1/10 electronics, and up to a 550can motor. Many use the Momba Max Pro ( for real) I've seen a MERV hit 82mph, not bad. Standing backflips and all that, n just all around cool truck.

I won't hate on the XS because it's a cool truck, but IMHO the MERV is just cooler.

SyCo_VeNoM

the size of the battery in the merv REALLY limits what 1/10th electronics you can run.
Personally I'd go XS this is coming from a merv owner as the biggest batteries I could find to fit in without mods are like 1800mah so even if you get 2 and hook em in parallel it will still only be 3600mah's vs 1 2S 5000-5200mah lipo in the savage.

Side note I've paid almost as much for my one 1850mah battery that can fit in the merv as I paid for a 5000mah hardcase that I heard fits in the XS with 0 mods.
The merv can be made decent but it requires a quite a few mods as stock it leaves A LOT to be desired. I actually tried selling mine as I tried it in its stock form, and hated it. After it didn't sell on ebay(had it priced $20 under a roller/chassis, I had body tires, motor, servo, and a pile of RPM parts still in the package included with a whole 5 mins of runtime and couldn't sell it) I put an additional $40 in parts into mods(center diff, 540 motor plate), and am now semi happy with it (still not 100%)

But that was just my impression of the merv, and how I felt about it. Also don't drive it in grass as it does not handle grass very well at all(my 1/18th RC18b handles grass better IMO).

mwarner57

Was not happy with mine stock either, but with the suspension and tire changes it is a whole different machine. I can't say there is anything I would want to improve on it now. Here is a good video on some of the modifications. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvkQuT5EXXw

Still haven't driven a Savage, as I don't know anyone who owns one. Was going to pull the trigger, but the brushed MERV was $100 cheaper, so went with that.

Another review of the Savage. These guys were not happy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L11-...eature=related
To be fair, they made a couple more videos showing how they swapped out the shocks, tires and steering servo to improve the truck. There is a video showing them running it in the snow, but there wasn't any analysis of how the mods worked out.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

I'm running a 5300mah in the XS and have room to go larger if I wanted.

FaceDoc

Thanks for the replies guys.  I ended up going for the Savage XS, from what I've read/seen on youtube it has no trouble in parking lots and really does haul @$$.

cumminspower5.9

My Feedback: (4)

Good choice. A 2s lipo is a perfect balance of speed and power and it's controllable. A 3s is just stupid crazy. I was at 3/4 throttle flying across a grass field, I punched it and it went end over end for several yards, but as usual, broke nothing. Hope you like it. If you have any future questions, post in the "Official Savage Flux XS Thread" and I'm sure several people, including myself, will be able to assist you.

Rac3rX

2 1800mah batts in the merv gets me close to 30min run time. Seriously? If that's all you got against it and yeah stock wheels on grass suck, but OMG it's so hard to run a different set of wheels, and Jesus, only 30min a set of batts, that's some cry me a river stuff right there, no offense. Yeah it takes smaller batteries that cost a bit more, you make it out like the batts prevent you from getting the power or affect more than just run time..... honestly, to me it's not important at all, more batts extend run times and better job gets more batts. I'm a lil a.d.d. So even 30min is long to keep my attention.


Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

BTW the MERV don't need 1/10 electrics to be stupid fast. So who cares? If u run 1/10 stuff in a MERV the only reason to is to get stupid fast speed sessions, nothing else needs it, stock electrics on 3s is more then enough and more then most can handle.

I'm not saying your points are not valid, they certainly are. I'm pointing out the over exaggeration, and "big deal" factor of your issues. I've yet to find a perfect RTR tire, and wheels to suit the terrain is a important factor in all my RC, so if your surprised or deterred by Talon tires being crap in grass it's laughable, like so what, big deal, lol...

I'm a lil confused on the run time, must be my understanding of the issue, as if your crying about a 30min run time being too short, it's time to change the Pampers.

All said with all due respect

eat2muchrice

I'm running 2x 2s 2500mah lipos in my Merv, cost me $15 bucks each and get nearly a HOUR of run time if I do not abuse the throttle.

firemanjbi

This is a fairly old thread, but wanted to share my opinion. I have both of these trucks currently and am happy with either. As most note the XS is (imo) a little tougher and take a beating more. The XS is pretty damn fast right outta the box on 2s which I run. The XS doesnt really require much upgrades new. Maybe a stronger servo as most say. Other than that giver hell and have fun. Yeah your gonna break a few things, but it holds its own. The Merv on the other had breaks if you look at funny. It needs alot of ups outta the box. When I first handled the thing, it seems pretty fragile. Owned mine for a few months and have already changed:  All Arms, Bumpers, Axle carriers to RPM, Im also on my second servo, and 2nd and 3rd differential gears (which will be shimmed this weekend). Dont get me wrong, I love this little truck now, but could be better out the box. I just got my rit dye and will be dying the chassis soon. Id say get both if money isnt a problem, but If I had to pick one ? I'd have to say Savage Flux XS for the fun factor, and the Merv for the ups and mods you can do with it. Heres a few pic of my rigs.

Again the above is just my opinion on the two models. Enjoy

SyCo_VeNoM

arms, and bumpers agree on, the carriers though I'd have suggested the GPM or some other aluminum ones for a few bucks more as I read too many things about the pillow ball pulling through the RPM ones. Originally I was gonna do RPM till a member told me about that, and when I went researching it seemed to be a kinda common thing.

but pretty much can't argue on the merv what you said. I don't understand why so many people recommend it to first time buyers. I more along don't think they even own one when they do the recommendations cause when a owner starts saying what is needed or if fragile they either get flamed, or the person who did the recommendation bases it on their pede 2wd's durability.

Is the merv a bad vehicle yes and no. out of the box its pretty terrible, and requires a pile of modifications, and work IMO it shouldn't even be sold with the RTR lable on it cause its not ready to run out of the box. But with a fair bit of modifications (shock springs, oil, rpm arms, alum carriers) it can be made decent, but the thin chassis plastic will still be a weak point