what are the best bang for the buck servos for 1/8 buggy? what makes them good? bad? what are the best?

HPI sf-50, they can be had for around 25 bucks and have great torque.

For a nitro buggy, you need two of course.

The required specifications for buggy STEERING servos are basically, 170oz-in or more of torque and as fast as you can afford. Ideally you want over 200oz-in of torque or more, but 170 will do if on a budget. For the THROTTLE servo, at least 100oz-in of torque and again as fast as you can afford down to about .12s/60* any faster is of no benefit.

What makes servos good and bad is their materials, weight, speed, torque, current usage and of course reliability. Good brands are Ace (now branded as Team Associated XP servos), Hitec, Futaba, Savox, KO Propo, Airtronics (aka Sanwa), and others but they are the main ones.

My budget picks...

Steering: http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...tal-Gear-Servo
Throttle: http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...-Digital-Servo

Medium budget (I use both these servos in truggies and buggies, they've never let me down, fast and strong)...

Steering: http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...rvo-w-Heatsink
Throttle: http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...rvo-w-Heatsink

Money no object:

Steering: http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...-Digital-Servo
Throttle: http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...rvo-w-Heatsink

Savox 1258.. I'd run them on both steering and gas/brakes..

Depends...they pull twice as much power as other servos with the same specs. If terribly lazy design is something that bothers you or if you run electric, you'll want to look at something other than the Savoxes at the high end. I have a Savox 1258 just sitting on my workbench, don't know what to do with the stupid thing. I need to either buy a BEC or sell it cos it just brownouts in every car I've tried so far, causing ESC glitching.

So 1258 not really the way to go in your opinion Foxy?? - I bought the on a budget servos you mentioned last night. Will move up to the others when I have some more coin.

Also for my electric rides use same steering servos mentioned?

Don't worry, the low power ones (budget ones), are fine. It's only the big expensive ones that draw ridiculous current. I would still be careful with any Savox servo in an electric though, particularly a Castle Creations powered electric, which compounds the problem with their weak internal BECs in their ESCs.

Both my e's have mambas and the super cheap servos and are in need of upgrades. Which servos best for this set up?

I have a 1258(actually, the Spektrum twin H6040) on gas in my DM-1 and it's flawless. Very fast too. Will be my next gas/brake servo in buggy, as my old Airtronics servo is getting rough. Savox 1258 for gas/brakes is an excellent value for money, 1256 if you want a lot more torque but less speed.

I happen to believe that a 1/8 buggy doesn't need 20 kilos of torque for steering, but like really quick response, so for me I'd run a 1258 on steering too. I have the cheaper Tower/Hobbico Hitec 5955 twin on steering in my DM-1, and a Hitec 5955 in buggy though, which are great because they last forever.

XP DS1313 for 1/10th, XP DS1015 for 1/8th. Best servos there are for the money in my opinion, you have to spend quite a bit more to get better, although these aren't cheap either, to be fair. Don't listen to people who bad mouth them, there was a single faulty batch years ago, and they've been trying to shake the rep ever since.

1015's Used to Suck Yes, They had a Faulty Top case that would tweek out and take out the gear set. I cant Count how many Gear set's i Threw at 5 or 6 1015's I used to have. YES they fixed the issue with the top cases, But the fact remains they still are capable of 10A+ spike's Just like the Savox's are know to do. So recommending them over the Savox's isn't much of an upgrade for the E racer's out there.


You want an Efficient E racer friendly servo with Durability and performance to boot, Just fork the bill and go Hitec 7955. Read the thread's, It IS THE most popular Versatile servo on the market....Run it in throttle Steering....Rudder...Tail LOL where ever you want.

My 1015 never caused a single glitch in my Jammin SCRT, without a BEC. My Savox 1258 in the same car would not work at all without a BEC (every time I turned the wheels, the ESC went NUTS), with no load, despite having lower specs than the 1015. There is aHUGE difference int he current draw between those two servos, and no justification for it. My Savox is sitting on the shelf looking at me now. I've got no use for a servo that REQUIRES a BEC in a 1/10th. Ridiculous.

Foxy I will gladly take it off your hands if you like!

I run a Savox SC0251mg for steering my 8ight, it runs at 222 oz/in @ .16 sec and I never have brownouts or failures. The wheels hold true when steering and it doesn't get any negative feedback, it is well worth the $ imho! I buy them for $35 at my LHS. Savox can be a power hog though, but so far not enough that I have noticed any negative difference.

I don't know what I'm gonna do with it honestly. I agree the 0251 is a real bargain.

I personally like my Ko's. They're no bang for the buck, but I think they're worth the coin.

If you run a lipo receiver pack, the high voltage orion servos have given me no problems so far.

I might add that the hitec 79 series servos are well worth the cash...cannot go wrong there.

No need for a heavy reciever pack if you throw in a BEC. Or just run an esc with a built-in BEC

Who said anything about Heavy.....I run 50-60g 2S 900-1200mah Rx Packs.....Direct lipo is Well worth it compared to running a Regulator and having to worry about that failing. (I personally ran 2 Losi Regulator's in both my Nitro's for 3+ years with ZERO issues) But like everything in this hobby. ANYTHING can happen on race day.

Amen to that!!!

hope alls been well - can I use the same savox 0251 for throttle as well? Seems like a better servo?

Savox SC0251mg

NOTE: This servo is taller than standard size servos. Please verify that the dimensions of this servo will suit your application prior to purchase.

Agree! I use DS1015's in my RC8B for both steering and throttle. Never a problem. I like to use the same servo for both steering and throttle so I can pack a spare one in my hauler in case of a failure. No need to worry about which is which.

Full disclosure though...I always buy the same brand of socks so I don't have to match them up...I just grab two and put em on and they will always match...I'm a little OCD that way so ... yeah...

Kevin

ha that funny... about the socks, me too for years - I like the servo advice as well

probably a dumb question, but speaking of the taller servo, is the servo supposed to touch the chassis? or sit suspended on the servo tray?