After many years of trying to influence my brother to move into gas RC trucks, I finally managed to pull the Savage X out of his wallet into his RC world. Owning the original Savage 21 RTR for 4 years I now know my Savage inside out. Looking at differences between my Savage and this Savage X, I was amazed how well though out the changes really are.
- The front diffs are much easier to access by removing only 6 screws, 2 from the bottom and 4 front the front. Then the complete diff comes right out, instead of ripping the whole front or rear end apart as was in the previous versions of the Savage. Diffs also have 4 bevel gears for added durability to last from the constant thrash of the 2.9HPNitro Star engine.
- TF-3 Radio is the replacement to the Original TF-4 which was as 3 channel Radio as appose to only 2 channel in the Savage X. So if you plan on adding the reverse module on to this truck you will have to get a TF-4 Radio and Receiver from eBay or purchase another radio that is capable of at least 3 channels.
- First thoughts of the new Engine stuffed in this package is very nice, its a torque motor with lots of grunt and my brother is still breaking in the motor. It also comes with a 3 shoe clutch which should transfer the mega horsepower to the power train nicely.
- Steering is upgrade with HPI’s cam type system that is also available as an option part to all savages from HPI or your local hobby shop. This kind of steering setup gets rid of the steering slop that the savage was known for. The Steering servo is still the same SF-2 90 oz./in & 16 Sec at 6V, not bad to start off with but i would suggest throwing this servo into the throttle area and added a 133 oz/in servo or higher for better performance.
- RotoStart 2 is much better then the original version, a Side circuit breaker helps keep the main switch from melting, the battery compartment is much securely made, a side charging jack is also added to the case and the main switch is hidden by a nice trap latch that keeps the dirt out.
- The wheels that come with the Savage X fix 17mm hex bubs which make the stripping of rims a lot less compared to the old 14mm. The smaller hex hubs and wheels were a bad combination on the original Savage 21 because the plastic would strip out to easily but they were later updated on the Savage 25 and on.
The chassis on the Savage X is lower to the ground for better CG which means better handling. On this version there is also a plastic engine protector that keeps your head from scuffing up. Being plastic will see how long it lasts after a few flips and rollovers.
- The slipper clutch is updated to a heavy duty one that uses 2 discs, one on each side of the gear instead of just a single on the back side of the gear.
- The tires look pretty good and last but not least the body is wider then older versions and painted very nicely.
