Hi all!

You can see my intro and buying experience here:
http://www.rcindia.org/rc-people/hey-all!-tassem-from-bangalore/

First Run:
http://www.rcindia.org/cars/hpi-savage-x-4-6-first-drive/

Some random shots:

The first mod was more of a tweak than anything. The body clips were a pain and was starting to cause slight blistering on my fingers. Plus they're so small to grab and remove. Lastly, they're so easy to lose!

The perfect way to tackle all of this in one go at zero cost!

One thing that irritated me was the careless omission of a proper underbody skidplate. While the front and rear skidplates do extend underneath, there is a gaping area that leaves the brakes and 4WD shaft open to damage.

While I can buy one that is specifically designed for the savage, there's no fun in that. Plus its expensive. I wanted to get a proper full underbody skidplate fabricated. Today being a saturday meant that most shops nearby were closed.

So as a temporary measure, a laptop HDD tray and some zip ties did the trick. Looks quite good if I may say so myself. The cut outs may cause stuff to snag, but it still offers a lof of protection compared to nothing being there in the first place.

This is the best so far!

The Big Block Savage pops wheelies on demand as long as your on tarmac or short grass. The thing about wheelies is that for somebody like me who's still just getting the hang of it, things are very difficult. I managed to flip the car over several times and the battle wounds can be seen on the body shell.

So the smartest thing to do was to get a wheelie bar. But again, why do it the easy way. A poor 'ol car donated its rear end for the Savage's wellbeing. It was a pretty straightforward graft. For those of you wondering if the zip ties will hold up - trust me, they will. I can grab and lift the car using the wheelie bar and it still wont budge. I haven't been able to test it yet though. That's reserved for tomorrow. But the angle is just perfect and I'm sure it will do a great job.

When I bought HID upgrades for my car, they came in a cool looking case. At the time I wondered if I will ever find a cool enough job for this li'l case.

Well, now I did! An HPI Racing Decal adorns the lid for that pro look

This li'l fella did not give up his rear without a fight. So the Savage showed him who's Boss!

Nice job.Liked the temporary skidplate.Didn't the savage have an included wheelie bar?(Or HPI might give it just for the savage flux HP)

Only flux has a wheelies bar, no savage nitro

@Gandhar: Himank is right. The Savage X does not include a wheelie bar in the provided accessories.. But this one works great. I can carry a wheelie as long as I'm on level ground/tarmac. On uneven dirt roads I cannot carry a wheelie but the car will not flip over. So it's good!

Good job there on the DIY, buddy. Look forward to see you sometime.

Hey Thanks! I'm working on a 2mm all aluminum under-body skid-plate now. I've never tried 3D designing so its taking a lot of time to work out a design. But I'm gonna keep at it till I have some success.

I also want to get an exhaust extension so that it exits out the back of the truck. I've found a place who can get it done. Will try and see if it messes with my tune. Fingers crossed!

We'll surely meet up sometime. Do you visit bangalore often?

Gud luk keep at it..

Hey Thanks!

good stuff.. one lil word of advice though...

the wheelie bar needs to bve very straight and very firm. if it moves even a lil bit. while trying wheelies, the savage will get into high speed wobbles and tumble over... and you dont want that to happen....

and i might try to get a plate like that made

Hey ShutterX,

The Wheelie bar has no play whatsoever. It doesn't even budge. However since its attached to the guard it does flex.

To be honest with you, I put it there so that it doesn't flip over under hard acceleration. The ability to carry wheelies is just a bonus

And hey about the plate, wait for a while. I'm working on a design that's going to be milled out of 2.5mm aluminum. Its going to extend the entire length of the underbody. If it works out well I can have one sent to you as well.

Lots of plans!

ok thats cool.. i wait. and anyways i need a new steering servo. mine is fried.. any idea where i can get one?

Model Art in Forum has a compatible 125oz servo.. forgot the brand. It was some 1800 bucks..

edit: oops, i just saw that you're not based out of bangalore Well you can try rcdhamaka I guess. I'm not sure if they have it though.

Delhi has a modelart too........

i am looking for 150+ thats the min for getting real performance from the savage.. the thing is bloody heavy... i have sourced the hi tech servos 12kg/cm on 6 v power... costs 3000! need to find it cheaper...

I know what you mean. But I don't think you can get them any cheaper here. A friend of mine will be returning from the US in two months. I've asked him to get me a pair. Frankly its almost the same to get it here than have it shipped.

i see it on rotor.. for 2250.. id buy it for that price.. any idea of that site? should i go for it?

The price seems good. I've never bought from them though. Just check with them if its in stock before you place an order. Some of these companies have a long wait period!

thats the issue... pay less but wait longer... or pay 600 more and get it instantly... which do you think is better?

Instant of course! Skip the weekend movie plans and you're even

haha. i get the hint. honestly... makes more sense... waiting, staying at home when the courier gets there... major pain in the butt...

skip movie plans it is then!

The PVR guys are gonna hate the RC community.

Yaar order the servo movie main dekha doonga...

haha... isko kehte hain gareem admi ke gareem decision... servo or movie

Rotor is very reputed.You'll have no problems.

i see,

thanks iamahuman.

Hehe, that's what I call brotherhood!


lol so true. Some people may not agree when they hear the cost of our toys though :p

man.. seriously... when my folks heard i bought a toy for 30k, they flipped!

I have taken the necessary precautions to ensure that my folks never hear about the price! When they ask, I always quote mastercard and say "its priceless!"

great. i and the people at work were all shocked. as well.

infact there should be a thread on what people asked when they first saw an rc car at the local park or street.

Haha.. The best is when they ask what you run and you say nitro, they say oh wow NOS?! I think the nitro bit is always confusing. But if you say methanol, nobody seems impressed Unless its at the drag strip.

I tell guys what brushless is like this."This motor has 3 wires coming out of it rather than the 2 you see on a brushed dc motor.This thing revs up crazy and can go upto 50,000 RPM and has tons of torque and its around 85% efficient and is almost if not more than twice as powerful compared to a brushed motor."I get blank looks most of the time.At school,guys go"You spent 25k on a toy??  "?I'm like,"Its not a toy,Its a full fledged racer(off-road)just around 10-9 times smaller.

lol! Next time tell them you got it for 350 bucks at BigBazaar. That almost always makes people happy. Plus it makes them go away

Haha nobody at scool even knows I have an RC..   >
I intend to keep it that way!   

Very few of my friends know that I have it.Only one guy has sen it.


I got so bored when we were taught about 'brushed motors'.I always used to say that they were crap and brushless is the new 'in' thing.

Haha same!
Everytime the teacher said, the Brushes are VERY important, all I could think of was Brushless! Brushless! Brushless!

Hmmm... Almost all my friends know that I'm into it. Some of them got into R/C as well. I guess its important cause the more people interested in the hobby, the cheaper it'll get for us

But none of the time wasters or non believers or "I'm too mature for toys" guys get an invite to hang out. Some people never change lol.. I hate it that some people associate age with hobbies. That's just so ridiculous. RC is just as intricate and interesting as their real life full scale counterparts!

Totally agree with you.Whoever says its a toy gets my fury.  >


And as you said,some people never learn.Let them waste their lives while we enjoy our RCs.

Amen to that! 

well the first time i took my savage out to the local park, 2 kids came and were agrueing about how much it costs...

kid a - "ive seen that in great india place mall for 450/-"

kid b - "nooo.... are you mad? thats for atleast 1000/-"

lol so cute

lol! kids I can understand! There are full grown adults who do that!!

yup.. and the first time my savage really revs up and shifts from 1st to 2nd gear, they just dont believe it! its priceless..

Man I love the sound of it shifting. Are you considering the three speed box? I've been hearing mixed reviews about it. I will be going in for the reverse mod though. While this thing can pretty much climb over anything, reverse is still a good thing to have.

I'll be getting a roll cage done. Hopefully I'll get to complete it tomorrow. I'm thinking of a lightweight reinforced stainless steel cage. I have a design sketched and ready. Its going to be modular with underbody protection as well.. Hopefully will work out. Will be completing the sway bar as well..

What mods have you planned? You really need to get underbody protection. I can't believe they didn't include it as stock!

^^The sound when it shifts !! It can seal the deal for a lot of us. I see you are getting a reverse mod done, its one of the reasons i opted not to buy the t-maxx. Though they said its ok and its good when you wanna race to not have reverse but you'll seriously miss it when ur having some fun and not racing 

well.... IMHO,

reverse is a no go. i have learned that the reverse module requires a particular idle rpm to shift... if you have given her a lil more revs at idle, she might not shift..

anyways. only things iam going to invest on on this car is servos, tires and some protection like Tassem mentioned. thats because funds are limited and i gotta save for the next car!

Thats the best part about revo 3.3 optidrive system

Rather spend on tires, a 3 speed tranny (lol), reciever battery, servo and a wheelie bar
Best tires are HPI goliath, cheap, huge, durable.
Servo your choice. Hitec one are nice.
Buy a 3 speed trans assembled ($89) or unassembled ($~50), which will carry your savage to 85+kmph
Try integy for a cheap metal wheelie bar, or go for a plastic hpi one for a very low price

The rollcage plan went down the drain as the guy I met didn't have the expertise to replicate the design. He has however suggested somebody else who can do it. But its somewhere in Jalahalli area and can be done only next weekend.

I did an air-filter tweak as well. I had a few high quality cloth pouches from my sennheiser ear phones. These are a direct fit over the air filter and helps keep it cleaner. This means I don't have to clean the filter as often as I used to. There is no discernible difference in power either since these pouches breathe well. I got the idea from the Outerwears pre filter cover. But why spend $15 on something that you can make! I now have a three stage filter I'll put up pics in some time..

As far as off the shelf mods go, I'll be getting two sets of stuff so that I have an off-road version and an on road version.

For the off-road version I'd like to get Badlands/Trencher Tires on some affordable beadlock wheels. I may even go the cheap but sturdy dish wheel route. But this is only after the current tires are worn. Doesn't make economic sense otherwise The current tires have really flexible sidewalls and that causes the truck to flip over on hard turns. Even with the suspension tweaked its still kinda bad.

For the on-road guise I'll be getting Phaltine tires on Tremor or Blast Wheels with a GTO/Camaro or Charger Body. The suspension will be at its lowest setting. If I have money leftover, I may get the 3 speed tranny as well. The 3 speed doesn't really make sense off road for me as I wont be hitting those speeds ever!

Other mods will include BP Diff, big bore suspensions and a custom low cg xl tvp conversion by Dejan. I'm already discussing options with him so this will happen first and then the rest.

So much in store for the savage.

This is what i would suggest for the savage..

Stage 1:

RRP Spur and clutch bell or HPI ventilated clutch bell (47,18 combo good place to start)
Servos (torque,speed set)
Reciever battery 6v 1200mah and above

Stage 2:

BP Diffs 43/13
Racing clutch shoes, 1.1 springs
Buku power pipe

Stage 3

Big bore shocks
Savage race conversion set
HPI UV joints with 17mm conversion


Chassis is optional, stock tyres are good enough for bashing and offraoding. look at the proline bow ties or nubz for racing. I would highly recomend a servo upgrade. We have modded many savages,  the above are the most essential and worth while to do. The roll cage doesnt really help too much. We have the RC boyz cage if you need it.

I forgot to mention the 3 speed with high speed 3rd gear in stage 3

That looks like a good plan. I've already got the hump pack for the servo and receiver. And the servo is the next in line. Does Manoj have stock of the RRP Spur and Clutch Bell?

For the pipe, I think I'd get one from ofna. Cheaper plus a lot of good reviews. If I spend more, I would prefer to go for the ERCM pipe instead of the buku. A lot of people on the Savage forum vouch for its performance. What do you think?

I've already asked my friend to get me the big bore shocks so that's taken care of.

And do you think I need the race conversion set unless I plan on taking the car to the track??