[Innova] The Savant

[Twmccoy]

Agree. Especially about the atrocity that is the Groove.

IIRC, the Savant was first put out as a CFR disc, and never gained popularity. A similar situation may be the Mystere. The Mystere was put out as a Shimmer Star CFR disc, and was not liked at all. IMHO the Shimmer Star is what made it bad, as regular Star Mysteres are good flyers (and I haven't tried a GStar Mystere, but people who have love 'em)... but the damage was done; the potential popularity was gone.

So maybe these discs will gain some popularity as normal runs in normal plastics. Time will tell, on that.

The 1 Mystere I have is a bomber, but its a pretty wild disc. Once the thing flips, it tends to stay flipped. Innova basically made the Mamba 2 there....

 

[Ryan C]

I really like the Savant. I am surprised that they never seemed to gain more popularity. The stiffer champion ones fly similarly to a Thunderbird, while the Shimmer Star ones fly like a CD2, maybe slightly more stable than the recent CD2s. To me the biggest advantage over those two molds is that the Savant feels great in the hand.

 

[Twmccoy]

I really like the Savant. I am surprised that they never seemed to gain more popularity. The stiffer champion ones fly similarly to a Thunderbird, while the Shimmer Star ones fly like a CD2, maybe slightly more stable than the recent CD2s. To me the biggest advantage over those two molds is that the Savant feels great in the hand.

I think the fact that the Savant is so much like a Thunderbird is at least part of the reason it isn't popular. People already have Thunderbirds and don't see the need to waste money/time on a disc that's essentially the same thing.

FWIW, I thought the Thunderbird flew a tad better than the Savant. It seemed a little faster and longer to me.

 

[kw83028]

Stock stamp Star Savant and First Run stamp Luster Savant begin shipping Oct. 15

 

[Myke566]

I'm curious if they changed this mold at all... I guess we will find out soon. After reading through this thread, it seems like the original mold is more OS than advertised. I'm hoping this final version is a little less OS. Anyone have one yet?

 

[RocBottom]

Interested to try this disc. I throw a Saint for most of my fairway duties. Curious to see how this compares.

 

[JuanA]

...After reading through this thread, it seems like the original mold is more OS than advertised.

I bought a Champion Savant earlier this summer thinking it would be similar to my Viking but with a touch more glide. I found it to be very OS, and it now sits on my shelf until I grow into it.

I was out today and noticed I'm just starting to turn my Viking too much, so maybe I'll swap it out for the Savant for awhile. The Savant feels great in my hand, so I hate to give up on it.

 

[Twmccoy]

Savant vs. Thunderbird. Both are speed 9.

I thought the Thunderbird was far better. Savant seemed slower, clunkier, and shorter than the Thunderbird. Way less glide and overall distance.

Savant is good for headwinds. Its plenty beefy to handle pretty much anything.

Savant is for big arms.

 

[Myke566]

Savant vs. Thunderbird. Both are speed 9.

I thought the Thunderbird was far better. Savant seemed slower, clunkier, and shorter than the Thunderbird. Way less glide and overall distance.

Savant is good for headwinds. Its plenty beefy to handle pretty much anything.

Savant is for big arms.

Were you throwing the prototypes? Or the production run that just came out? I'm wondering if they altered the mold at all to make it less OS. The overwhelming consensus was the Savant was just as OS as a Thunderbird. I ordered a production Star Savant so time will tell.

 

[Twmccoy]

Were you throwing the prototypes? Or the production run that just came out? I'm wondering if they altered the mold at all to make it less OS. The overwhelming consensus was the Savant was just as OS as a Thunderbird. I ordered a production Star Savant so time will tell.

The Savant I have is old, so it must have been a prototype. I thought it was more overstable than a Thunderbird. Just seemed slower w/ less glide.

I have no clue why Innova created the Savant in the first place.

 

[Myke566]

The Savant I have is old, so it must have been a prototype. I thought it was more overstable than a Thunderbird. Just seemed slower w/ less glide.

I have no clue why Innova created the Savant in the first place.

Haha who knows. I think to phase out the slow selling Viking? Then again, the Viking is supposedly Dave Dunipace's favorite mold, so I doubt they nix it. It is odd that they would squeeze a mold between the Thunderbird and Valkyrie (2 extremely popular molds).

 

[hugheshilton]

My guess is that if they actually made the Savant fly true to its numbers, the Viking will get relegated to the Factory Store. The Viking was an okay mold, but the ones I had never seemed to have much glide. It seemed to fly short for its speed class, no further than a Teebird or Eagle, so what was the point? The Thunderbird definitely flies further if you have the power, so hopefully the production run of the Savant will too. The fact that they never released the Viking in Star or Pro, which seem like the most popular plastics for drivers, says a lot about the potential they saw for that mold.

 

[Twmccoy]

My guess is that if they actually made the Savant fly true to its numbers, the Viking will get relegated to the Factory Store. The Viking was an okay mold, but the ones I had never seemed to have much glide. It seemed to fly short for its speed class, no further than a Teebird or Eagle, so what was the point? The Thunderbird definitely flies further if you have the power, so hopefully the production run of the Savant will too. The fact that they never released the Viking in Star or Pro, which seem like the most popular plastics for drivers, says a lot about the potential they saw for that mold.

Yeah, I never dug the Viking. Seemed slow and clunky. I threw a few of them years ago and never got into them. Lack of glide with the Viking was noticeable. The Viking just never stood out and seemed overshadowed by other molds from the day it was released.

Thunderbird is (IMO) light years better than the Savant or Viking.

 

[rd.bittle]

My guess is that if they actually made the Savant fly true to its numbers, the Viking will get relegated to the Factory Store. The Viking was an okay mold, but the ones I had never seemed to have much glide. It seemed to fly short for its speed class, no further than a Teebird or Eagle, so what was the point? The Thunderbird definitely flies further if you have the power, so hopefully the production run of the Savant will too. The fact that they never released the Viking in Star or Pro, which seem like the most popular plastics for drivers, says a lot about the potential they saw for that mold.

Yeah, I never dug the Viking. Seemed slow and clunky. I threw a few of them years ago and never got into them. Lack of glide with the Viking was noticeable. The Viking just never stood out and seemed overshadowed by other molds from the day it was released.

Thunderbird is (IMO) light years better than the Savant or Viking.

Pearly Champ Vikings in the upper 160s are a thing of beauty. DX Vikings are the mud on my shoe.

 

[RocBottom]

Very curious as to how the Savant compares to a Saint.

 

[wims]

The Savant is *a lot* more overstable. The Savant is not a flippy disc, its basically a Thunderbird.

 

[Monkeypaws]

The Savant is *a lot* more overstable. The Savant is not a flippy disc, its basically a Thunderbird.

Agree that the Savant is way more stable than the Saint - disagree that the Saint is flippy

 

[FrontRimBanger]

Anyone thrown any of the new stars?

 

[EricMoul]

Anyone thrown any of the new stars?

Just got two in the mail today. Yellow 170g and orange 172g. A buddy and I are gonna toss them tomorrow, comparing it with a Star Teebird3, Champ Thunderbird (seasoned), Star TL3, and S-PD.

 

[Monkeypaws]

Got out the F2 Savant again today - it is sneaky long considering how stable it is. Pretty sweet mold.