HPI Savage 25 Tips and Opinions
from. One of the benefits of an r/c car or tuck bought at a hobby shop is that every part is replaceable or upgradable so you never have to throw away another broken r/c car. The HPI Savage kit comes RTR or ready-to-run with everythings you need to get the savage up and running except the following.
12 AA batteries for remote and receiver
Nitro fuel
Glow plug ignitor
fuel bottle
7.2 volt battery and charger
Glow plug wrench
small screwdriver set
Once you have your Savage you will have to break in the engine. Breaking in the engine can be very easy if you follow the directions. First you have to put all the batteries in the radio and the reciever on the truck. You will also need to charge the 7.2 volt battery for the roto start. Once you have done this set the trim on the radio so that the hole in the carburetor is set to about 2-4mm open, make sure both the radio and the reciever is turned on. Then fill the fuel tank and WITHOUT the glow plug ignitor on the glow plug spin the engine for about 3 seconds. This will ensure that there is fuel in the fuel line, once you have done this you can apply the ignitor and the the truck should start. The idle might seem high at first but this is ok. Let the engine idle this way for about 10-15 seconds then you can adjust the trim on the radio so that the truck will idle at a proper rpm.
With the truck started, sit the truck on a smal box so that the wheels can spin freely, ( i have found that a shoebox works extremely well ) the wheels should spin slowly. Once on the box let the truck idle through an entire tank of gas. After the first tank of gas allow the engine to cool, fill the tank, and begin the process of starting the truck again. Once the truck is started the second time slowly increase the throttle to max throttle for about 2-3 seconds, this allows the engine to get rid of excess oil due to more rich break in settings ( the factor settings are for break in ). After the second tank of fuel you can repeat the steps again to start and slowly drive the truck around allowing it to coast preiodically so that the engine stays cool. Do this for 2 more tanks of gas and this will complete the break in process for the Savage 25.
The Savage on a day to day basis is one of the better 1/8 scale r/c monster trucks out there. The Savage is by far the most durrable of any in its class. I have jumped my savage off of things that it should not have been jumped off of and it has not broken any part that cost over 15 dollars. The Savage can readh speeds of 37-40 miles per hour just out of the box ( stock ). The roto start that HPI has developed is also by far the best way i have seen to start a nitro truck, it works everytime u need it to. When you have your savage running good you can change the carb settings to a leaner setting now that the engine is broken in. The settings that i have found best for a newer stock savage is the high end setting at about 3 turns out from full closed and u can turn the low end needle counter clockwise ( leaner ) about 1/4 turn. This should improve acceleration and overall performance. The savage is the perfect bash em up truck because of its extreme durability, but you can break parts… Its best to pick up a few parts at the hobby shop for just suck an occasion. Some of the parts needed to keep in the tool box are: new glow plugs, nitro r/c cleaner, beefier servos, and maybe some tougher drive shafts if you think you might need them.
There are many different upgrades for Savage trucks, first you will need to pick up the basics, the aluminum tuned pipe, high flow air filter, fuel filter, new tires ( dirt bones patter works great ), upgrade the shocks and get some less stiff for better handling if your not going to be jumping the savage off huge cliffs, and the 5 cell battery pack for the reciever is a big help also. You can also upgrage engines, this can be a bit more expensive, around 170-250 dollars, but will be the biggest improvement to make. With a bigger engine the savage can reach speeds of up to 55-60 miles per hour. You can upgarde any part on it to tougher polished aluminum, or the factory purple ionized aluminum parts for toughness and also they make the truck look much better.
