ORIGINAL: bhcvc

Well, I have an E-Savage and my friend has 2 ''old'' E-Maxxs and had 1 ''new'' E-Maxx. He sold the new one to his friend. He kept the ''old'' ones because they were stronger since they had most parts replaced with aluminum and he already has spares for the old ones.

Between the 3 (E-Savage, old E-Maxx, new E-Maxx), the E-Savage seems to be the toughest stock. I've landed 6ft jumps straight onto concrete on the nose, the tail, and up-side-down with no breakages. My friend broke the bulkheads, shocks towers, and/or arms on all of his Maxxes. He replaced those parts with aluminum pieces on his old Maxxes, but didn't bother replacing them on his new Maxx since his friend wanted to buy it anyways. His breakages were from bad landings and hitting hard objects, but I hit those same objects and had worse landings than him with no problems. So that's the durability department.

Speed-wise, the E-Savage a bit faster stock, but that's because both the old and new E-Maxxes are bigger than the E-Savage. If you want size and don't mind getting aluminum parts (which end up costing more), the E-Maxx might fit the bill.

The E-Savage diff issues are overblown. Shimmed properly (don't use Kershaw shims, just buy your own of the right sizes and you'll have spares), the diffs work just fine. And if you want stronger diffs, get GCM's diffs...really tough! The weakest part of the E-Savage are the drive axles which can snap when you land while at full or near-full throttle. They will almost guaranteed snap if you're running brushless (just the rears, fronts are usually fine). Get a set of Traxxas 4951x axles and you'll be fine.

Both trucks will handle brushless fine. My E-Savage is brushless and it's DAMN fast! Really fun.

Regarding stability, the wider track of the E-Maxx makes it more stable. However, there are modifications for the E-Savage to help with that too. GCM makes some wider arms which are great. GCM also offers longer TVPs (along with other brands like FLM) which help address the size issue.

Traxxas parts are everywhere, but I don't have a problem getting HPI parts. I usually order online, but my LHSs can order for me too. I don't mind not having parts for a few days. I have other trucks to play with in the mean time.

In the end, I prefer my E-Savage. It's, IMO and experience, a tougher, better built and designed truck. The size and handling can be addressed by the aftermarket. On the same hand, the durability issues with the E-Maxxes can be addressed by the aftermarket also. It's just a matter of how much you want to spend. Considering the E-Savage costs $100+ less than the E-Maxx, that difference can go toward a more stable, larger, and more durable E-Savage for the same price as an E-Maxx.

Oh, the E-Maxx (new) has a waterproof/resistant ESC. Don't know if that matters much to you. If you go brushless, you can't run through water anyways.

Final thing, the Johnson 550 motors on the E-Savage are more durable and last longer than the Titan 550s on the E-Maxx.