Pro Line recently introduced their version of the BFGoodrich Baja T/A
KR2. The tires are molded in Pro Line’s M2 (medium) compound and come
with their molded, closed cell inserts. The tires are a direct replica
of the full scale tire, down to the sidewall lettering. When I first saw
these tires, I knew I had to try them as I am a BFG fanboy of sorts and
I love the look of that tire. My immediate thought was, “How will these
compare to the S1 BFG’s from Traxxas?”
I have had a set of those tires in S1 (soft) compound for quite a long
time and I have used them on everything from an SCX10 (surprisingly they
work well as a crawler tire) to my LCG 2wd to a HCG Slash 4×4. They are
good tires; I can see why Traxxas includes them with the Platinum
Edition 4×4 as they are a good upgrade over the stock compound. They are
the softest tire that Traxxas offers for SC trucks and look really nice
with their white sidewall lettering and scale replica tread.
I tested both sets of tires on my HCG Slash 4×4 and LCG 2wd, both of
which have 4300kv 4-poles and run on 2s. The tires were tested on the
same surfaces back to back for the closest comparison that I could
achieve. I ordered a new set of S1 compound BFG’s for this test as I
wanted this test to be as accurate as possible. Pro Line was kind enough
to send me a complete set of KR2’s for this test. Whether I paid for
the tires out of pocket or not had no bearing on my results. All data
and results are representative of 30 hours of testing on multiple
surfaces over the course of two weeks.
OUT OF THE PACKAGE: Both the Traxxas S1 BFG’s and Pro Line KR2’s were
pre-glued to wheels and the glue jobs on both sets were spot on with no
runs, drips, or gaps. I had no issues with either brand coming un-glued
during testing.
ADVANTAGE: Tie
ASPHALT: I have a textured concrete driveway that is more abrasive than a
tennis court surface and offers excellent traction. I have a hard time
with drift cars on this surface because of how much grip it offers! The
Traxxas Mud Terrains have really good forward bite but the sidewalls
lack support and allow the tread to roll under during cornering which
causes unpredictable handling and leads to a lot of traction rolling.
The roll is nearly impossible to catch as it comes on so sudden. I
attribute this to the soft inserts that Traxxas uses not being able to
support the sidewall during hard cornering.
The Pro Line tires surprised me here. I expected amazing traction out of
the bag but they just would not hook up at all. With the 4×4, I could
transition drifts without losing momentum. I found this really odd as I
have ran other M2 compound PL tires on this same surface with great
results. The same traction issues were noted on every surface I tried
them on that first day. I was concerned that something had gone wrong
with the tires so I gave Pro Line’s tech support department a call and
asked what was going on. They informed me that the BFG tires needed up
to eight packs worth of run time to achieve their full traction
potential. After the first pack of running on the textured concrete the
tires were still as shiny and new looking as when I had first pulled
them out of the bag. I ran a total of 10 packs through the truck on
those tires over two days of testing and they improved every pack. Now
the traction is above what I expected. Forward bite is excellent,
pulling wheelies in both the 4×4 and 2wd, and braking was strong and
controllable as well. Where I was most surprised though was when
turning; the tires didn’t want to hook and roll like the Traxxas units
did despite having more tread on the sidewall. They would pitch the
truck onto two wheels if pushed too far but the roll was much slower and
more predictable and could often be caught before the truck went onto
its lid. This is where the molded closed cell inserts really shine. The
2wd was less prone to this rolling than the 4×4 due to its lower center
of gravity but exhibited similar handling traits. Overall the Pro Line
KR2’s outperformed the S1 Mud Terrains by a sizable margin on textured
asphalt. In addition to performing better, they also exhibited less wear
than the soft S1 tire and still have 90% of their tread left.
ADVANTAGE: Pro Line
GRASS: The S1 tires do well here. They don’t have as much sidewall tread
as the PL tires and don’t catch surface irregularities as often. They
slide in corners more but don’t catch and roll the truck as frequently.
Forward traction is okay, not great, but not bad either. The tires
perform better on the 4×4 than the 2wd which has more power than the two
drive wheels can handle. The 4×4 will spin all four tires from a stand
still but hook up quickly.
The KR2’s have more forward traction and more grip during cornering but
had a tendency to grab in corners and traction roll. I attribute this to
the sidewall tread that is more pronounced than on the Traxxas tires.
These lugs provide a lot of grip and sometimes that grip is more than
the chassis can handle. The KR2’s still perform better all around than
the S1 Mud Terrains as long as you keep an eye on your corner speed.
ADVANTAGE: Pro Line
LOOSE DIRT: The Traxxas S1 compound works really well in loose, damp
dirt. It is able to bite into the surface and gives predictable
performance both in acceleration and braking as well as cornering. The
tires would slide a little (which prevented traction rolling) and then
hook and go in the next direction you point the truck. The 2wd fared
nearly as well, just with more oversteer from the lack of driven wheels.
The Pro Line KR2’s performed at their best in this scenario. The large
tread blocks bite into the loose surface and propel the truck forward
with so much grip it would pull wheelies (not a bad feat for a 4×4). In
corners the inserts kept the tires from rolling under and the sidewall
tread added even more cornering grip. Both the 4×4 and 2wd were easier
to drive on this surface using the PL tires and I didn’t have to make
the walk of shame once during all of my testing (which was five
half-hour packs in each truck).
ADVANTAGE: Pro Line
HARD PACKED DIRT: Neither tire did well on this surface. They both had a
hard time biting into the terrain and would merely skate on top. The
Traxxas tires were slightly easier to drive here, mainly thanks to their
soft compound and smaller siped lugs that are able to put more pressure
on the ground over a smaller area. They did poorly on the 4×4 and were
completely useless on the 2wd. The track (if you can call it that, it
was abandoned years ago and has not seen any maintenance since 2007-ish)
is very hard dirt with a loose silty layer on top and I have not found a
tire yet that works there. I do not fault either tire for this, it is
just a bad surface to drive on.
The Pro Line’s would not hook up over 1/4 throttle in the 4×4 without
breaking traction. The large tread blocks and firm inserts just couldn’t
find traction on this surface. The 2wd was uncontrollable; each
application of the throttle, no matter how minute, would result in the
truck facing the direction in which it had came. Again, these tires were
not designed for this type of surface so this is not surprising.
ADVANTAGE: Traxxas
WEAR: Both sets of tires held up well during testing (which was a total
of about 30 packs on each tire) and neither show excessive wear. The Pro
Line KR2 is molded in one of their firmest compounds (M2) and despite
this performed extremely well on most surfaces. After the lengthy
break-in process the KR2’s show little signs of wear. The S1 Mud
Terrains wore in a similar fashion but provided less overall traction in
nearly all situations.
ADVANTAGE: Pro Line
PRICE: The Traxxas S1 BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A’s (part #5873R) have a
MSRP of $28 per pair and are pre-glued to satin chrome wheels with red
faux beadlock rings. The wheels are designed for Slash 2wd rear and 4×4
front and rear.
The Pro Line BFGoodrich Baja T/A KR2 tires (part #10123-13) come
pre-mounted to black Renegade wheels and have a MSRP of $44.95 per pair,
including molded closed cell inserts and also fit the Slash 2wd rear or
4×4 front and rear.
ADVANTAGE: Traxxas. Caveat: While the Traxxas tires are quite a bit
cheaper, you do get less for your money. The tires do not perform as
well and the closed cell inserts in the Pro Line tires are an upgrade
over the stock Traxxas inserts.
FINAL THOUGHTS: The Traxxas BFGoodrich Mud Terrain T/A is a good
looking, good performing tire. The S1 compound helps it to find grip on a
multitude of surfaces and the price is low for pre-mounted tires and
wheels. The inserts could be better and the compound could be softer (it
is claimed to be a race tire compound, after all) but all in all it is a
good tire. The Pro Line BFGoodrich Baja T/A KR2 is a better performing
tire that lasts longer, has more scale detail, includes better inserts,
and is made in the USA. The price is a little higher, but you do get
what you pay for. After nearly 30 hours behind the trigger with both
sets of tires, I can say that I am impressed with how well the Pro Line
tires performed. They may take a little time to reach their full
potential but when they do, they are an impressive tire.
Here are the Pro Line BFG’S after 15 hours of running:
Links: Pro Line KR2 https://www.prolineracing.com/tires/…tires-mounted/
Traxxas S1 Mud Terrain https://traxxas.com/products/parts/5873R