80s Rock and Roll

Im new to R/C but am now going to get into it. Here is my story from long ago til my current situation:

I sold plasma (like giving blood) in college as a newlywed to buy a Kyosho Outlaw Ultima (Electric Stadium Truck) kit. I had a blast putting that thing together...actually more fun to put together than to run. Well I went cheap on a battery (generic 1500mah NiCd) and Hobbico 905 timer charger. Needless to say, the 5 minute run-times frustrated me as I only had 1 battery. Eventually, after about the 15th run, I slammed into a wall in a gym and broke a rear suspension arm and shock cap. I didn't have money to fix it so in a box it went. That was 1993. Now it is 2004 and I took the Ultima out of the box (along with generic battery, Hobbico 905 and Airtronics radio) and got on the internet and found the parts (not easy) for my discontinued Kyosho. I put it together, charged the battery, and away I went...still worked great. I drove it a few times and hit a curb and broke....a shock. I still have leftover stuff from the shock kit I bought so no problem there.

Now I realize that after 11 years, RC must have come a long way. So I started lookig at Nitro vehicles (Monster Trucks specifically) because of longer runtimes. When I started doing research on the net I found that monster trucks were 'where its at' for backyard bashing. I pretty much plan on chasing dogs, kids, etc and occasionally getting it out in the park to run around and impress all the 8 year olds. As I started research I found that the T-Maxx was the number one MT out there. So I figured...popular equals good, right? I was about ready to buy when I came across RCUnivers forum and then found that the Savage was no MT chump. So the fight was on...the T-Maxx or the Savage. I did a comparison based my decision on these criteria:

1. Durability ( I want a vehicle that can take low/moderate stupidity without serious damage)
2. Tunability (I want to engine to hold a tune.I like fiddling around, but not all the time)
3. Ease of Maintenance (When it breaks, and it will, I want to be able to fix it without a week of downtime and a blowtorch)
4. Aftermarket Support (I don't want to search the internet for a week to get a part, in fact, I want to find aftermarket parts at 85% of the hobby shops in America. Im in the military and move around.
5. Cheap weakpoints (Every MT has a weak link from what I gather. I want the weak link to be a cheap upgrade. For example, they say the savage has a
weak diff, but the upgrade is cheap and fairly easy.)
6. Performance (speed isn't as much a factor for me as I will only be chasing kids, dogs, etc. I want it to be able to climb curbs and the occasional neighbors cat without a problem. I am also interested in stuff like turning ease/radius, runtime. Im sure whatever nitro I get, I will be happy with its performance as I have been running an Outlaw Ultima Electric buggy)
7. Electronics (You always get jipped on the monitor when buying a computer, I don't want to get jipped on electronics when buying an RC vehicle.I hear servo strength has lot to do with the turning ease/radius)
8. Group support....from what I see, Savage and T-Maxx both have ample online, group support.

I went to my LHS and that place rocks. They have tons of R/C cars, trucks, planes, slotcars, etc etc. To boot, they had a section of the store (10 x 12) that was an R/C mechanics work area. Needless to say, I didn't talk to a salesman, I talked to the mechanic and asked all the new-B questions. I asked what all his work orders were at the time (as I wanted to see what brand of RC vehicle was the lemon...like HP and Compaq used to be the lemon of computers). He pulled about 3 vehicles off his 'to do' rack and showed me the orders...most read "Clean and Tune". To me, that means laziness...isn't RCing about tuning and cleaning, and maintaining as much as it is bashing and racing? I understand if you cant tune it for some reason...but clean it? There must be some moneybag RCers out there to pay someone $18/hr to clean your RC vehicle. Anyway...back to the story....

I told him about my priorities and said I was thinking about getting a T-Maxx. He said it was a good, popular truck and had tons of aftermarket support...the most of any MT ever. I like that, but at the time it registered in my brain as "T-maxx has the best aftermarket support...other MTs have crappy aftermarket support", which apparantly isn't true. His price for a T-Maxx was $10 higher than Tower Hobbies...well within my value range for supporting my LHS. Especially when I know they have an in-house mechanic that will give me free advice if I need it...that is worth something to me (on my first vehicle). I went home and started looking at the forums. I got to RCuniverse and must have read for 8 hours straight on the MT forum alone. Either every non-TMaxx guy congregates here or the T-Maxx is only popular with New-Bs...most everyone here that has more than a few years in RCing and has went through a few vehicles likes Savage, TNX, LST, etc. Not a single die-hard T-Maxx fan among the experienced...that started telling me something. So I right a few emails to some of you asking your advice. I even email my LHS and get the same advice....get the Savage SS kit. (I actually find putting kits together, whether it be an RC car or prefab furniture, quite relaxing when following good instructions).

So here I am and here are my questions to you:

1. Is the Savage SS a better value (not price) than the T-Maxx given my buying guidelines?
2. What is the real difference between an SS and the RTR? I noticed things like the SS has a pull start while the RTR has the roto-thingy...which looks cool. Is the gas tank different too?
3. What radio to get? I have no clue as to the current state of radios. I haven't researched them much. Maybe you could give me an idea of what is good and/or the features I want.
4. Servos? Do I need to get these with my kit...if so recommend some and/or specs to get when choosing.
5. Charger? I understand LiPo is going to be the wave of the future. I can also see myself getting into planes or helis later on. I was thinking Triton? Super Brain wont do LiPo. Or maybe I should just go with the Super Brain 959 for now and worry about LiPo later...advice needed.
6. Battery? Do I need a 'hump' battery for steering? Not sure what this is all about.
7. What other stuff do I need...fuel, fuel bottles, misc tools, glow plugs, etc
8. Which upgrades to do now? I dont want to upgrade for fun...I will do that as stuff breaks. I want to fix critical weak points such as the 'spider gear upgrade' that I hear about so often. I will leave the gold-plated kryptonite enhanced flux capacitor upgrade for later.



Oh yeah...price...it is an object, but Im not stingy. Im looking to walk out of the store with everything I need to get the MT going for no more than $600. Bottom line, I want value. Cost is secondary. So if I NEED to spend more for something, let me know. For example, If you were going to recommend the Futaba 9000XLT9GS Super radio that costs $XXX.XX but saw my $600 cap and recommmended the Tower Hobbies New-B special, let me know what I could get for spending the extra $50 or $100 on the Futaba.

Alright guys...let er rip.

By the way...anyone interested in an 11 year old Outlaw Ultima that runs fine?

oatmealman

My Feedback: (1)

[X(],long you know what post,umm go with the savge aftermarket avaiabilty is insane[X(]

frozen

Get the Savage SS and an MX-3 Radio. Good luck!

saifullah21

Wow, that's a long post. Welcome to rcu. I love the savage. It's very durable, a great jumper, and seems to suit your needs. The ss kit comes with the ribbed pipe, purple shock springs(i believe they're supposed to be softer), and adjustable upper a-arms, no radio. The rtr version doesn't. The only thing i don't like is the radio box. It's kind of cramped, but very easy to mod. Some complain about the onboard setup, that it takes too much work just to work on the tranny, diff, etc. There is a prob with the fuel tank running the engine a bit lean after the fuel level is less than half. A properly tuned s-25 engine is a decent performer(can pull wheelies). The stock steering sevo, to me, was weak.
I've owne one tmaxx. I bought it used, so it was already upgraded with over $1000, so I can't comment on it out of the box. It was almost all aluminum, and very fast. I never really bashed it. The trx 2.5 engine can require a lot of fiddling. For me it was more frustration than satisfaction.
I love the lst. The fm radio is the best in any rtr. I love the setup. The diff is so easy to remove! Performance is consistently great. Very durable, easy to work on. 2 servos for steering. Great rtr engine when properly tuned. I haven't broken anything yet, but i haven't operated that much.

A hump pack is better than changing batteries every so often, not knowing how much juice is left. they usually provide more power and perform better than double As.

all things considered. i think the lst is the best value. the tmaxx is faster, but needs alot of work and parts to match the durability of the savage. The savage is a proven tank, but needs a better engine to be a racer. The lst already has a pretty good engine, great radio(no crystals). It's the biggest of these 3.

I'm really getting hooked to the lst, but i love my savage. i sold my tmaxx. i hope this helps. aim high. airpower.