Nitro RC truck owners

[mail man]

Okay, I have finally saved up enough money to be able to buy a nitro truck, but I am not sure where to start.
I have run electric trucks before, so I know the very basics, but I know nothing about the nitro end of things.
Can anybody suggest an RTR kit that would be good for a newbie?

[Tdre977]

I personally like the HPI Savage, tough little bastard, check out the vids on you tube, they're beasts.

http://www.hpiracing.com/kitinfo/867/

[bigwhiteash]

Savage or Associated Monster GT... I would avoid Traxxas. (based on my own research, they're not as strong or durable).

I have an Assoc. RC8 buggy, and I'm waiting for delivery of my MGT 8.0 (monday)

Here's the buggy with a fresh RJ Speed body painted by me...







Nitro is much more entertaining than electric, in my opinion. The maintanence is a bit more complicated, but if you enjoy tinkering, it's no problem.

[mail man]

Very nice looking buggy, I realy like the paint job you did.
I do like to tinker with things, and, that is why I was thinking of nitro.

I was actually loking at the Savage, and I really like the looks of it. Is the Savage a fairly upgradable truck? I mean, are upgrades pretty accessible?

[bigwhiteash]

Thanks, It's my first paint job....

There are a shitload of hopup parts for the Savage, look around at integy.com, they make some nice CNC parts for a lot of vehicles. Especially the Savage.

http://www.integy.com/st_main.html?p_catid=59

I went with Associated because of my great experience with the RC8 buggy. Tower Hobbies also has an easy-pay plan where they will charge your card over three months... Makes these big boy toys a bit more accessible to me.

From what I've read, once you get into a certain price range, high or low, there's not really much difference between manufacturers within that range... A $400.00 truck is a $400.00 truck. Just scope out parts availability.

Haven't broken anything yet... Wish I could say the same thing about my helicopters! THOSE things are ALWAYS on the workbench!

[Tdre977]

I was actually loking at the Savage, and I really like the looks of it. Is the Savage a fairly upgradable truck? I mean, are upgrades pretty accessible?

I think in the HPI site they have an extensive list of upgrades, from alloy parts to kits for reverse. I'm running an HPI rs4 right now, seems like i break it more often than I play with it (hitting shit at 40+mph breaks alot of shit) and replacement parts are always readily available.

[Tdre977]

My whip

[Devil Doc]

Very nice looking buggy, I realy like the paint job you did.
I do like to tinker with things, and, that is why I was thinking of nitro.

I was actually loking at the Savage, and I really like the looks of it. Is the Savage a fairly upgradable truck? I mean, are upgrades pretty accessible?

When my youngest son and I went to buy his first Nitro buggy, the first thing the store owner said was, "You'll spend 80% of your time working on them, 20% running them". He was pretty close.

Doc.

[ggiese]

When my youngest son and I went to buy his first Nitro buggy, the first thing the store owner said was, "You'll spend 80% of your time working on them, 20% running them". He was pretty close.

Doc.

Yep!

Mine is a HPI Nitro rs4. I've had the beast for over 10 years - wasn't horribly expensive to get into - and there are still plenty of parts and upgrades out there.