Tai Sing & HPI

[nightbreed]

Hello! I'm new to this hobby and have only managed to put together a Tamiya Hornet.

I would like to know if Tai Sing is the only place that sells HPI cars?

Also, I'm torn between the Savage SS and the MT2 18SS. Anyone have experience with these cars? Or would the RTR versions be better for a beginner?

Thank you!

[sspp]

Hello! I'm new to this hobby and have only managed to put together a Tamiya Hornet.

I would like to know if Tai Sing is the only place that sells HPI cars?

Also, I'm torn between the Savage SS and the MT2 18SS. Anyone have experience with these cars? Or would the RTR versions be better for a beginner?

Thank you!

TS is the distributor for HPI in singapore. If you want to get HPI stuff you can also get from BK or Winnie. They take from TS but i find their price cheaper.

SAVAGE SS!!!!

[PCC]

Hi - I dunno about the savage but seeing the threads I see alot of nice things written about it. I have the MT2 (older version on .15) and I find it a bit frail. Maybe its the conditions I run it on but I seem to have more maintenance issues with it than my other cars.

[Mad Armour]

Hi - I dunno about the savage but seeing the threads I see alot of nice things written about it. I have the MT2 (older version on .15) and I find it a bit frail. Maybe its the conditions I run it on but I seem to have more maintenance issues with it than my other cars.

How lasting it is depends on how you abuse it mah.... I have the even older version, RS4MT. Stood up quite well although I must admit I didn't subject it to any jumps higher the 4'.

The MT 2 is still a 1/10 so parts and hardware are 1/10 size...namely smaller and more flimsy. Savage is a 1/8 MT so parts are also built toughte to handle the additional weight and power. However, if you subject the Savage to severe abuse, parts will break.

IMO, the toughest class of nitros has gotta be the 1/8 buggies. My Hyper 7 took 12" jumps at TBT, landed on side, tumble over a few times and still mopve away like nothing happened! You just have to look at the chassis, arms, bolts (4mm and 5mm) to see why it can take these kinda abuse. However having said that, something will eventually break!

Cheers!

[Mad Armour]

Also, I'm torn between the Savage SS and the MT2 18SS. Anyone have experience with these cars? Or would the RTR versions be better for a beginner?

Thank you!

If you can afford it....get the Savage!

[PCC]

Yes - definitely a function of the abuse we issue to it. But I must say one reason is the exceptional speed the MT2 went to when I ran it lean. When it hits a bump it has cartwheeled on occasions and that caused quite a lot of damage at that speed.

I see all the thick strong parts on that Savage - so that must be the tough machine.

[nightbreed]

Hello! Thanks for all your replies.

I went and got me a MT2. Budget wouldn't allow the Savage. Just finished admiring it. Now I have to find time (and place) to play with it.

Mine came with the white body, though. I always thot it was orange, like the one on the HPI website.

[PCC]

Yeah!!! congrats!!! whatever u buy its always a pleasing experience. I think the orange body version (mine) is a bit stale - if I got a choice would have gone for the white or the military version. Looks cooler.

You got yours as kit or RTR? Can I recommend you some cheap upgrades if you did not get the 18version? :
1. Wheel Hexes - there are metal versions at 11 dollars at TS. The plastic ones u need to make sure the nuts are always very tight as they may get loose and the hexes may rip out the wheel and itself. If you want to save the 11 dollars, just keep making sure the wheel nuts are tight (but this should be ok when they are new) - else replacing the wheels and hexes later (and maybe the tires if you cant remove them from the wheel) would be at some greater expense.
2. Racing Clutch - The basic clutch is ok for a start. But it tends to engage even at low speeds so you will have difficulty when you tune the engine leaner as the car seems to move on smooth surfaces. The Racing Clutch (20 bucks at TS) is adjustable and can engage at higher speeds. So if you find that you cannot get the MT2 to stay stationery when you make the engine faster/leaner, u may want to consider getting the racing clutch.

Maybe we can have a MT2 bash someday - I normally take it to some muddy patches at Punggol (which explains the abuse mine gets).

Have fun!

[Mad Armour]

Yes - definitely a function of the abuse we issue to it. But I must say one reason is the exceptional speed the MT2 went to when I ran it lean. When it hits a bump it has cartwheeled on occasions and that caused quite a lot of damage at that speed.

I see all the thick strong parts on that Savage - so that must be the tough machine.

MT2 is quite fast becos it's light and has a .15 engine.

Yup, Savage's parts are thick and strong, so can take quite a fair bit of abuse.

[Mad Armour]

Hello! Thanks for all your replies.

I went and got me a MT2. Budget wouldn't allow the Savage. Just finished admiring it. Now I have to find time (and place) to play with it.

Mine came with the white body, though. I always thot it was orange, like the one on the HPI website.

Think that's the RTR version.

[Mad Armour]

Maybe we can have a MT2 bash someday - I normally take it to some muddy patches at Punggol (which explains the abuse mine gets).

Have fun!

Go Tampines Bike Trail lah.....

[nightbreed]

Hmm. Looks like I need to brush up on RC vocabulary. I have no idea what 'make the engine leaner' means or what wheel hexes are. :P

THank you for the pointers, phanchingchong. I think I will just play with it and get used to it before I start doing anything else to it. I can get fairly obsessed with 'upgrading' when I start. :P

My MT2 is RTR. I feel like just taking the whole thing apart and putting it together again, just to get familiar with the parts. Is that smart?

Also, in showing off to my wife, I chucked the MT2 from about 1m and I heard the chassis smack the floor pretty loudly. Is this normal? The shocks feel a little 'mushy' to me.

[PCC]

Hi ... yes run it first and enjoy. Just take this advice then (especially when the thing starts to run fast) - check the wheel nuts to make sure they are tight after each run. That way you can hold off the wheel hexes stuff.

Also, dun take it apart!!! Just take apart each component each time you have something that is bashed up or require maintenance. Should have fun running the car rather than fixing it too much.

With regards to the shocks - if you are not jumping too high/much, it should work. It is a bit too soft so many people change the springs to the upgraded ones (Purple or Blue sold at TS). With the change in spring, some also change to a thicker shock oil. But at this stage dun need to change these - just go progressive on how much jumps you put you cute MT2 through. At worst, you scratch the bottom purple chassis but it actually does no harm usually (just cosmetic) - when it bothers you, change the springs for a start and when you are feeling more shiok, change the oil.

When you go through the instructions to start the engine, they will explain how to tune the engine and run it in - they will also tell you what is lean and rich (meaning little or more oil into the combustion). But dun worry, just follow the nice two pager from HPI.

For now, follow the break in and engine start instructions and find a nice safe place to get started on running it. Quite shiok.

[PCC]

oh - just saw that you threw it 1m - dun like that lah. quite poor thing one - imagine our real SUVs jumping 10m. Quite painful ...... So throw 1m quite normal to bash the bottom...... But when running and you jump 2-3 feet it should also hit the bottom so the stronger springs/oil I mentioend is meant to reduce this. But 1m .... reallly quite painful for the poor MT2 lah.

[Mad Armour]

My MT2 is RTR. I feel like just taking the whole thing apart and putting it together again, just to get familiar with the parts. Is that smart?

Also, in showing off to my wife, I chucked the MT2 from about 1m and I heard the chassis smack the floor pretty loudly. Is this normal? The shocks feel a little 'mushy' to me.

If you have not much experience in assembling kits, I suggest you don't take the MT2 apart. OK, one advise from me. Make sure all the screws are tight. You dun want things to drop out when you jump your MT! Also, loctite all metal to metal screws. This will prevent it from coming out due to vibration.

An example will be the engine mount screws. Take out one, apply loctite and screw back tightly (but don't overdo it, else you'll strip it). Then do another screw. Don't tale out all at the same time, coz you'll have to redo the gear meshing.

The body bottoming out is normal for MT, so is soft springs. This will help to absorb the surface undulations. Try not to go too hard coz you're running offroad.