HPI RC Cars - anybody got one?

[mcandmar]

I cant stop looking at HPI's website so i've decided to buy myself a new toy :mischeif: Anybody got one of these, any advice, which is the best model to buy?

Its either a buggy like this,

http://www.hpieurope.com/kit-info.php?partNo=10402&lang=en

Or a truck like this,

http://www.hpieurope.com/kit-info.php?partNo=882&lang=en

I'm thinking the truck with the higher center of gravity would tend to roll over more, but they also have the more powerful engines. I just cant make my mind up

Mark.

[Nuvo]

I know someone who has been mad on RC for a numbers of years.
You could PM me your email and I'll ask him to contact you if you like?

[Ski]

Hi,

ive had 2 HPI savages for about 2 years, one I spent around £2000 on just on mods. I highly recommend HPI Savage X, its the new one. The savage can go up curbs, jumps higher than you can imagine, and can take a beating. The buggies however are not as strong, too fast to handle and dont really do it for me.

I must tell you however, 70% of the time spent on these cars (or any other RC car) is maintanace.

After spending a lot of time and money, mine is virtually indestructable. No joke, i can drop it from 4th floor, as long as it lands on its wheels then no damage.

Here is my Savvy :



I also started my own website www.savage-world.com - ive since then lost interest in it and someone else took over, but pictures still up, and maintnance guides still up (many hours documenting how to dismantle and fix these toys).



Ahh, I could go on all day about this and class my self as a "savage expert"

Some of the extreme mods Ive done to my savage from new :

new reinforced drivetrain (all 6 dogbones)
reinforced front and rear diff
new dual disk brakes (dont bother with carbon pads)
lightweight flywheel
performance cluch
choice of .28 or .27 hybrid engines both ported and polished
reverse gear installed
3 speed gearbox
air filter size of your fist
more powerful steering servo and servo saver
perfomance HPI ribbed exhaust (very loud with a big engine, neighbours complain instantly)
thicker shock oil with stiffer springs
lots lots more

[Ski]

P.S. search for video's by "crash n bash" and "SMF" (slap ma fro). these will show you how much of a beating these trucks can take. from snow, ice, dust, sand.. they will run THROUGH everything

[PeteRR]

Quality!
I'm thinking Truck too.

Mind you, although these are for tarmac only they're wicked!;

http://www.hpieurope.com/kit-info.php?partNo=10256&lang=en

[s2_southwest]

i have a savage X, will post pics when i get time, very dirty at mo lol

[Ski]

Quality!
I'm thinking Truck too.

Mind you, although these are for tarmac only they're wicked!

problem with them Pete, is that all it takes is a tiny stone, a cat's eye, or bump in the road and its flying. Offcourse when it lands it breakes into a million peices. Even when u hit a curb by accident it breaks. I tend to stay clear of these "road only" cars as the only place i can play with one is the trafford centre car park (smooth surface) and you quickly get red coats chasing you away.

[mcandmar]

Boy am i glad i asked that question here Great website Ski

The Savage X is the model i've been drooling over, big 4cc engine, 4wd, 2 speed and all the other nice bits, its the one i like the most. What i really want to know is can the Savage be setup so you can have fun on tarmac, can it do donuts, power slides etc? I just don’t want something that’s going to constantly turn over onto its roof and get stuck like a turtle.

A friend has one of the MT buggy’s which i'm used to, found it a little fragile though, any mistake at all usually ended up with some credit card bashing Again another reason i think the tougher trucks are the better option.

I found the SMF vids yesterday and downloaded them all, didn’t realise they were that tough. The height some of them were getting is incredible.

All this talk of ported and polished engines, lightweight flywheels, reinforced this and that is starting to turn me on in all the wrong ways I think i'm sold on an X Ski

Mark.

[Ski]

I'm thinking the truck with the higher center of gravity would tend to roll over more, but they also have the more powerful engines. I just cant make my mind up

Mark.

You can lower the ride hight of the savage by simple unclipping some clips (for when you are doing on road only). I also got stiffer springs and thicker shock oil to keep it more stable (and higher jumps).

Whenever I play with mine people always come upto me and say "how fast can it go?"

i freekin hate that question. its all to do with what gears you put in, and if I say it can do 100mph what does it matter? by time it reaches it its out of range and you try and steer at tiny RC car at 90mph!

I got 3 gears in mine but they are set to short ratio for rapid acceleration. this with one of the most powerful engines on the market makes it flip onto its back from stand still (over wheelie). Thats when control comes into place and you have to limit how much you accelerate and brake and turn. You also do tricks like wheelies in 1st n 2nd gear, driving on 2 wheels (left or right), endo's with brakes, you can also control them while they are i mid air (accelerate to rotate it backwars, brake to make its nose dive).


oooooo lots of fun

[Ski]

The Savage X is the model i've been drooling over, big 4cc engine, 4wd, 2 speed and all the other nice bits, its the one i like the most. What i really want to know is can the Savage be setup so you can have fun on tarmac, can it do donuts, power slides etc? I just don’t want something that’s going to constantly turn over onto its roof and get stuck like a turtle.

Mark.

yes you can "configure them" to be more stable on tarmac.

however you woudnt want to do doughnuts or drifts on dry tarmac as it batter's the diffs. You can always take a bag of sand with you to help it slip a little.

but belive me, once you have it, and once you take it offroad, you will never want to play with it on tarmac to drive it in circles as it will seem boring.

unfortunatly you cant stop it from flipping onto its back. you can help it stay on its feet it the inevitable will happen.
I installed a reverse gear to stop me running out and pulling it out of a bush all the time. Also rollcages available for it which will help it flip back by itself (added weight tho).

If its your first time you are about to hit a big learning curve.

[Ski]

here some more pics of mine :

[mcandmar]

What are the running costs like? How long do diffs, engines, and suspension parts last before they wear out?

And what parts are easiest to break? Have you got a list of parts that i should really change from the start? e.g. the MT my mate has came with useless brakes, had a stupid plastic brake disk that did nothing when it got wet.

[Ski]

Offcourse I can supply you with all info you need

Running costs differ depending on how often it gets used and how you treat it while running it and how u maintain it. So its hard to predict. a £15 canister of nitro fuel will last you probably 4 - 8 hours play time. big engines drink more than double the fuel. all depends you see. I can honestly say ive replaced all weak links in the car now and nothing brakes any more.

some random price lists to give u an idea.

Hardnened diff £30 or £35 pre assembled.
replacement engine block (just the engine casing) £60
top of the range engine with everything (clutch, flywheel, pullstart, mounts etc) £300 - 350 (i did say top of the range)
New car shell £15 or £20 pre painted and pre cut


there will be lots of things i would recommend to start with :

fail safe (stops it running away when out of range or intefereance (it would run away at WOT)) = £10
battery pack to stop you replacing 4 duracel batteries every 3 hours (£15) (then charger for it (£30)
i could go on all day.

My other savage is pretty much all standard which i let people use, and its more than enough for them.

When i took my savage out of its packaging when i got it the engine was bust, i had to send it back and wait a month. So dont purchase from america just because its £50 cheaper. after import duty and in case it goes wrong it will be a nightmare.

[mcandmar]

Fail safe sounds like a very good investment!

Reading on other forums i've come up with this list, worth getting?

Dual Brake setup - so it stops better
Steering servo - Is there stronger ones or whats the logic there, seen it mentoned on a few forums?
Some spare spur gears - Yet to work out where they go?

Whats your opinion on buying them from ebay second hand? Interesting about buying from the US, i was looking at that as it works out a lot cheaper for me when i do the currency conversion. Over here they want €600 for them when i pick them up for $400 in the US, which is ~€315. Thats half the price

[PeteRR]

problem with them Pete, is that all it takes is a tiny stone, a cat's eye, or bump in the road and its flying. Offcourse when it lands it breakes into a million peices. Even when u hit a curb by accident it breaks. I tend to stay clear of these "road only" cars as the only place i can play with one is the trafford centre car park (smooth surface) and you quickly get red coats chasing you away.

Good point Ski!, I'd fancy doing a few off road jump offs anyhoo....I wonder if they do an orange Dodge Charger?

Does anyone remember 'The Lunch Box'?. Not quite in the same league I know, but how I hankered over one of those back in the day, and was over the moon when I finally got hold of a second-hand one!