HarveyC Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) Over on the News section, I promised to create a thread for owners to discuss their experiences with the Savage XL Octane. So here it is. I received mine on the day after MS got them in stock. My first impressions were that it was of the usual HPI high quality and completeness, with a good tool and spares kit (even to the inclusion of a spare air filter foam set and air filter and two stroke oils), and a very comprehensive manual. But there was one area in the design that concerned me, and one that irritated me. The area that concerned me was that, like all Savages, a large part of the underside was exposed, in particular the brake disks, the lower ends of which were only inset inside the TVPs by some 5mm, but also the rear dog bone and its coupling, also the lower lugs of the gearbox casing which were some 2mm or so below the lower edge of the TVPs. The irritation, was that the rear end of the roll cage move upwards by some 12mm when you lifted the model by this means, due to a gap between the top of the rear body mount and the shock tower. I decided that before I ran the model I would fix both of these issues. To overcome the first issue, I made a skid plate out of some 6mm plastic recovered from the tub of an old wheel barrow, held in place at the rear by a tongue made of the same material, and located at the from by an internal cross piece, the whole thing being fixed to the bottom of the TVPs by means of cable ties. I have attached a couple of photographs of the finished article. To over come the second issue, using my 3d printer, I printed a spacer to fill the gap, and again some photos of this are attached (pity is was printed in blue but that us the colour I'm using on my printer at the moment!) Now for the interesting bit. On Thursday, FeedtheInferno and I met up to give the car its first run. It started OK, but we had some problems with the engine surging, and frequently running uncontrollably up to high revs with the throttle closed. We spend some time that evening trying to sort this one out without avail, and decided to give it up for another day. When I got home I meticulously reset all the carburetor settings to those given in the addendum to the manual (High end 1 turn, Low end 1 and 7/12ths and idle 2 2/3 from fully screwed in). Today I went out gain with Nick, intending to put the model on a block and let it rev if it wanted to. It started easily within two or three pulls,idled perfectly and responded well to the throttle.I didn't need the block and ran the model around until the tank ran dry. I then let it cool, refueled, and ran though another tank again with no problems. I think Nick is going to put up a video of some of this last run. You will see that it is running very rich and therefore not revving well (its not yet getting out of first gear), but I am confident that things will significantly improve once it is leaned out. I won't be doing this, however, until I gone through at least another two tanks of fuel. When its tuned I intend to set about adjusting the gearbox if needed to get the gear changes right. I will post a follow up here after my next session with the model. Whilst we were at the running site today we met up with IanW who also has a new Savage Octane. Unfortunately try as we might, we just could not get this one to run correctly at all. These engines seem to be exceedingly sensitive to changes of carburetor settings (the manual refers to making adjustments in steps of 1/24 of a revolution and not changing by more that 1/4 of a turn) and on thinking about it, I suspect that by the time we were getting there with the carb settings on Ian's model, the ignition battery was run down to point were it cut the ignition as soon as the engine began to fire. Anyway, we have agreed to meet up gain soon to sort this one out. So these are my first thoughts and, experiences, do any other owners have anything to contribute?? Harvey Edited May 31, 2014 by HarveyC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCbutcher Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 (edited) They sound great but I watched hemistorms vid and saw quite alot of people are struggling with tuning. Im sure once people figure them out theyll be great could be that people used to 1/5 engines need to forget that and start learning a new style, are they plane or boat engines? The only thing im shocked by is they stuck with the flanged hex nut design. I need some savage 17mm hexs but dont like those type I was hoping to be able to use octane hexs thinking they'll be beefed but nope. The purple ones are too expensive I think at Edited May 31, 2014 by RCbutcher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean-vrs Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 not got one yet.......yours and ianw findings will have a big impact on my decision to buy so good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feedtheinferno Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 A video of Harvey's going through its first tank 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarveyC Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 They are the same hubs as on the Savage X, but although they are the same part number, they seem to beefed up the wheel nuts a but since I got the spares for my Savage X last year.' In regards to tuning, I have a Maverick XB and a Baja 5bss (ran the Maverick today as well) although its a standard Warboro carb on the Octane, the Octane engine is MUCH more sensitive to changes in carb settings, and I suspect that this is a major reason for at least some of the problems that people appear to be having. Harvey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 I think that somewhat confirms an issue I thought about, also I know a few others did, was would the engine be powerful enough. I think the effortless wheelies on the first tank confirm, yes it definitely is. Turned my first/second impressions of it around somewhat! Still a lot of money, but remove that (as some folk have enough to LOL) and actually, that looks rather promising. Very unlike me to be so positive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarveyC Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 Re Nicks video, it was the second tank actually, I was not as cruel to it on the first tank(!) Harvey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 It still gives you a good impression of what it's going to be like. The HPI video (much like the Losi XXL video) didn't really give much of an indication to what it will be like... Just the usual edited crap to make it look 10x more exciting. A simple video such as yours/Nicks, is a much better indicator I think... Or at least I find it to be. Looking forward to seeing more videos of it and your findings after owning it for a little while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feedtheinferno Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 OK OK first.....tank I videoed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian w Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 As Harvey says not so good with mine plus a broken brake disc= one slightly snotty email to HPI with pictures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowerz Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 As Harvey says not so good with mine plus a broken brake disc= one slightly snotty email to HPI with pictures A friend of mine had his rear brake break on the first 'run' too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmo Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Does it sound like a petrol buggy (if you get what I mean) sounds more of a gritty sound like nitro rather than a the grunt of petrol. Looks good though I mean for someone like me who HATES tuning looks like a good compromise for a smaller scale. To say that's not even broken in /used much yet its fast. Did you get any spares with it? Also how long do you think till upgrades come out for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarveyC Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 The sound is more 'crackly' than either my Maverick XB with its Dominator side pipe, or my Baja 5bss with is Predator 2, and quite different to anything else that I have had experience of . Its running very rich at the moment and some of its crackle may go when I lean it out. Its a nice sound, but quite loud. I'm very encouraged by the outing today and I have high hopes on the performance side, once I get it tuned and the gearbox set up properly. It wasn't getting out of first gear today, but the revs were clearly being restricted by the rich mixture. As I indicated above, I intend to run two more tanks through it before beginning to leaning it out, even then I'll leave it on the rich side for some time. Once I'v completed the initial leaning out, I will see what the gearbox does, and then will decide what if any adjustments need to be made to this. In regard to the spares, it came with various plastic parts, a wheel nut and a hex and several hex pins, together with a pack of screws, a spare air filter foam set and some air filter oil, and bottle of two stroke oil. Harvey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feedtheinferno Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Just some pictures of Harveys Octane 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ian w Posted June 1, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted June 1, 2014 Yeah and here a picture of mine doing it`s new job 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feedtheinferno Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Yeah and here a picture of mine doing it`s new job This made me chuckle Ian, Also PM me about that car on ebay, let me have a look and I will tell you what I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian w Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 This made me chuckle Ian, Also PM me about that car on ebay, let me have a look and I will tell you what I think. It gone up to much for me and I think I want to get this one sorted before I go for any more Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian w Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 This made me chuckle Ian, Also PM me about that car on ebay, let me have a look and I will tell you what I think. I`ve pmed you the link any way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian w Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Oh well thanks HPI for your help NOT few emails back and forth ended up with saying they have sent some new discs for the brake. Ignoring the non starting problem. So try the phone nice lady takes all my details and promises a call back, well that was about mid day nothing heard. So I will try one more time to start it tomorrow if not look MSUK it,s coming your way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atom3624 Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 http://www.rctech.net/forum/monster-trucks/816549-hpi-savage-octane-xl-how-yours-running.html This mirrors much of what has already been said, but broaches a couple of extra interesting thoughts. Al. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian w Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 (edited) What is really getting up my nose is HPI keep saying "it`s the tuning" but how the hell do you tune an engine that will not run?? Sorry if I bought a washing machine from say Argos and it did not work, it would be swapped ASAP and probably did not cost Edited June 2, 2014 by Ian w 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian w Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 There is HOPE HemiStorms latest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nitroholic Posted June 5, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted June 5, 2014 well....he's got it running sweetly.... but boy did he have some issues! Fussy on break in, finnicky tuning, and some manufacturing issues with a busted clutch and spark plugs that don't last. I guess the message is, it's not like a 1/5 petrol where the motor is tolerant, and highly resistant to abuse. This is more like a nitro in that tuning is precise and vital and you bring a few spare plugs along just in case! When it did go, that's probably the first video I have seen where it looked like the driver was having fun, rather than hiding the disappointment of buying a very expensive RC that just didn;t live up to expectations. There is indeed hope 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oh How Original Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 (edited) It's in situations like this when it makes you wonder why you pay so much for HPI really. With a lot of people having the exact same issues you expect better service than to be ignored about the issue (such as Ian was) So you're not even paying for great customer service anymore :/ Is it only me here, or does it feel like they released it quickly and 'hoped' nobody would complain about the problems, just to be released before the Losi XXL? Edited June 5, 2014 by Oh How Original 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian w Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 It's in situations like this when it makes you wonder why you pay so much for HPI really. With a lot of people having the exact same issues you expect better service than to be ignored about the issue (such as Ian was) So you're not even paying for great customer service anymore :/ Yes but I must say that in this MSUK are being Brilliant Heros they have arranged a courier to pick it up and take it back to them for sorting out. Many thanks to MSUK (Dave). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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