Savage Flux Is Now Shipping

[Finnster]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

I just want to see if the tranny internals will fit the std SS tranny case. I will most likely buy the flm bulks for my big flm savvy. I have not run it yet, but plan to run the hpi heavy duty al cups with the steel inserts...

Is that good, or should I do something else?

From the pix I've seen it looks like they just have a diff shaft and gear set, but the archecture of the tranny has not changed. Ie, input shaft is one gear, and drive gear is one fixed gear, rest is same. Never know until you get a good look at it.

I have the alu diff cups in my XL. They are very beefy, but the ring gears are not as good as the Flux's. Plus they use lame 10 or 12mmx16mm bearing iirc, not the std 8x16's you see on all truggies & other 1/8th scales. Supposedly the flux's diffs have 8x16s. I can't remember if this is was for one side or both.

Besides the Losi's are prolly some weird SAE bearing, or maybe one side is SAE and the other is metric lol. I hated my losi for that. Always having to have two sets of wrenches and guessing what unit they decided to go with for any particular part.

[doo540]

If you want the xl tvps, for your Flux, give Kershaw Design a call or email him with what you want. It would be water jet cut, so fast turn around and very affordable. I like teh way the FLM stuff looks, but for as hard as I drive mine I would hate to ruin those parts.
By ruin I mean get dirty/scratch.

I'm currently running CEN GEN diffs front and back in my BL XL, went thru to many stockers to keep up.
http://www.rcbasher.com/savcendiffs.html
I cant wait to hear how the flux rear end gears keep up.

[JThiessen]

Originally Posted by doo540

If you want the xl tvps, ......

I'm a noob to HPI lingo - what is the tvps?

I'm dying on the vine here.....only a 100 miles away...so close and yet so far away!

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
PORTLAND,OR, US 02/02/2009 2:17 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SPARKS, NV, US 01/30/2009 10:33 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
01/30/2009 7:44 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN


Tracking results provided by UPS: 02/02/2009 6:19 P.M. ET

[Unsullied_Spy]

Originally Posted by JThiessen

I'm a noob to HPI lingo - what is the tvps?

Twin Vertical Plates, they're the chassis plates.

[rabosi]

Originally Posted by doo540

If you want the xl tvps, for your Flux, give Kershaw Design a call or email him with what you want. It would be water jet cut, so fast turn around and very affordable. I like teh way the FLM stuff looks, but for as hard as I drive mine I would hate to ruin those parts.
By ruin I mean get dirty/scratch.

I'm currently running CEN GEN diffs front and back in my BL XL, went thru to many stockers to keep up.
http://www.rcbasher.com/savcendiffs.html
I cant wait to hear how the flux rear end gears keep up.

Someone already had diff problem.
http://www.savage-central.com/module...+flux&start=20

Add me to the list with a broken diff pinion. I finally did one backflip too many and heard that horrible sound. The diffs actually held up better than any other Savage diffs yet. I'll try the Cen mod on the Flux and report back.

I got mine this afternoon, and immediately switched the battery connectors over to Traxxas only to find out Traxxas plugs don't fit through the battery tray holes. (Yes, I realize I'm probably the only one who uses Traxxas plugs for everything but that's how all my batteries are now) I had to dremel it out to make it fit.

Took it out for a rip on 4S and crikey is this thing fast. Unfortunately I only had packed snow to run on (Thank you Alberta Winter) but the one time I did get traction on launch, I just flipped ass over. It's drying out now then I'm going to see how it compares to a nitro savage for parts.

[JThiessen]

I too got mine today. The thing is sick fast on 6S. I'm going to start my own thread on it, with all the pics and stuff to go with (Just because this is my first new RC!!!)

[E-fanatic]

btallack how does it compare to the e-revo?

I'm also curious how it compares. I have an E-Revo and I love it, but I've always got my eyes and ears open for the next big thing. From what I've gathered, the Savage line is generally tougher than the Revo, though I've yet to break anything on my truck. The videos I've seen thus far show the truck to be a lumbering monster with a high center of gravity and a slushy suspension. Then again, the E-Revo also had a pretty spongy ride right out of the box.

I'm satisfied with the strength of the E-Revo and I acknowledge that the Flux may be stronger still, but what other advantages does the Savage hold over it?

[JThiessen]

I have a converted Revo 3.3 (MMM/1515 2.5D), and now the Flux. Keep in mind, I've run that Revo for 3 years, and only one run on the Flux up and down our street for about 15 minutes.
Revo outhandles the flux. Period. Not even a comparison.
Flux is too short/narrow as it sits out ouf the box, especially if you are going to run 6S. On 4S, it might be a better match.
I fight the Revo suspension sag all the time - I may have finally nailed it this summer.
Flux seems fairly well balanced right now - but will have to do some jumping with it to really know.

I dont feel that they are really a comparable truck though. A Flux will never handle like the Revo, thus you'd likely never race a Flux. You can bash them both, like you can any truck. And like any truck, depending on how the stars align for you, and which rock gets in your way, you can break any of them. And with ANY rig, you are going to break your drivetrain trying to do backflips.

My guess is that if the economy doesn't completely tank, there will be a better rig on the market in a year. But then, by then I will have likely spent another couple hundred upgrading and fixing this truck, having fun the whole time!

[himalaya]

IMO the E-REVO is more of a runner or racer, the Savages are more of a fun maker or joker. Savage's significantly higher center of gravity made that difference.
Also, flat plate chassis makes every part in E-Revo much easier to access than the Savage.

Originally Posted by E-fanatic

btallack how does it compare to the e-revo?

The Savage is a blast and without question a better basher. It has a ridiculous amount of power and a seemlingly solid drive train. I threw it up in the air so it would land hard and knock some of the snow off. The springs didn't even bottom out. This thing is solid.

That said, my BL E-Revo is without question a better racer. It seems to have better weight distribution, handles better, and of course is lower to the ground. On a track I'd definitely expect the win to go to the E-Revo. I've got my E-Revo built for track and it hugs the corners. The Savage would flip at the same speeds.

The Savage however can certainly go places my Race-Setup E-Revo never could. Better clearance and durability means I can run it on pretty much any terrain with no issue whatsoever.

As for which is a better overall vehicle, I'd be hardpressed to answer that. The E-Revo is definitely more versatile. It can be set up for better clearance, and with RPM all around it's pretty much just as durable as the Savage and doesn't seem to have the Diff problem that the Savage is notorious for. Stock, I'd say the Savage is the overall better vehicle, but with a few mods I'd say the E-Revo is just because of it's versatility. (And if you're anything like me, you can't leave anything alone. Keeping my Slash stock for stock class racing is killing me. I'm already planning a list of mods for my Flux)

I bought the Savage to be a basher and I'll leave my E-Revo for racing. Tomorrow I'm actually meeting up with a buddy who has a BL E-Revo (MMM/Losi2100Kv) so I'll let you guys know how it compares side by side. Don't expect anything too thorough however until the snow melts. We're pretty much limited to packed snow running for right now.

Thanks for the comparisons. It sounds like people believe that each truck has its purpose - Revo for racing, Savage for bashing. I wonder, however, how close you could get each truck to be close to the other in their respective strengths. Ex: LT rockers and higher GC for the Revo and stiffer, lower suspension for the Savage. My Revo is relatively stiff as I don't take it into excessively bumpy areas frequently, but when I do hit up a construction site that's been torn up by earth movers, I sometimes wish it was a little more plush to handle the giant ruts in the ground. Maybe I should get both?

[Finnster]

I've had two converted Revos, and now a nitro Sav XL.
Gotta say that the Revo's been on the shelf for a while w/ no plans to run it again. The Revo def out handles the Savage, but anymore I think a revo is a half assed truggy w/ a tranny. Not to be harsh, but it seems a jack of all trades/master of neither sort of truck. I have a very nice and inexpensive Ofna Hyper ST truggy for amazing handling and hi spd running, and a big burly savage to offroad with. Both are better than the Revo at what they do, and stronger IMO.

I seemed to have constant little things break w/ it. The tranny is weak, and takes 40 million screws to get apart (as do the diffs.) Now this is a nitro ver, so can't speak for the Erevo version.
Also, I hate the suspension. It is really hard to get right for a hvy BL truck. It always sags, and tends to bend the rocker posts alot, and pushrods sometimes. The shocks are actually quite small and overworked IMO, and the whole setup is needlessly complicated and hard to service. I also hate the pillow balls (tho strengthened in the Erevo) and the fact that so much needs to be changed to RPM stuff to stay durable. I hate how gimmicky and under-engineered alot of TRX stuff tends to be.

Very few things I dislike about the Savage. Overall its very ez to work on and get to things. Diffs are cake, and can use many 1/8th scale diffs as a mod. Tranny is ez to open and get to, as is really everything. Its not terribly complicated and is tough and well protected all around.

It is not adjustible at all lol. Forget about caster and camber (tho there is a adj arm kit.) You get toe, that's it. Not a whole lot of options on shock mounting with the stock towers either (tho the FLM towers are nice.) The turn radius sucks. My hyper ST can do a fig-8 in the savvy's turn circle, seriously.

The truck is for jumping, driving over stuff and general mayhem. For that, its awesome. It drives over everything my revo would have got stuck on long before. It has a real drive train, not plastic tubes. The stock shocks are ok, but BB or LST shocks are luxurious.