Review: Pro-Line Pro Fusion SC 4×4 Part 1: Backyard Bashing

Does the Pro Fusion make a good basher? No. The Pro Fusion makes what is in my opinion the best basher that is available today. To call the truck good is a disservice. This truck handles rough terrain like it isn’t there; soaking up rocks, roots and dirt clods as if you were driving on fresh pavement. I did swap out the stock shock oil for some 60wt. to stiffen things up for dirt oval use and I had feared that this would make the truck less planted on rough surfaces but this was not the case. The big bore shocks soaked up small imperfections as well as the larger hits and not once did the truck bottom out. I took a preventative measure before testing and installed an Associated Chassis Protector sheet. This extra heavy duty protector should keep the stock chassis in mint condition through all but the worst abuse; it is extremely thick. The film doesn’t show anything worse than a scratch after all of the multi-terrain testing I did.

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I set the truck up with 500,000wt. center diff fluid which kept the power going to the rear under hard acceleration but kept the wheelies in check as the diff would unload if the fronts got too far from terra firma. The truck will wheelie if you land under power with the fronts still in the air but it takes a concentrated effort to do so. If standing backflips and other shenanigans are your forte you could swap the center diff oil for something in the 1M to 2M range, or lock it entirely with diff locking putty. I set my truck up with 7000wt front and 5000wt rear oils and the truck is handling the power quite well. My driveway is just under 15 feet from the edge of my property and is slightly elevated from the lawn making for a nice launch ramp. Usually I can get a few feet of air and land within five or six feet. The Pro Fusion picked up enough speed to launch across my two-and-a-half car driveway and landed in the grass on the other side. This caught me off guard the first time I did it and I didn’t think I had seen that correctly but the truck did it time after time with no complaints.

Speaking of power, I installed a 3670 sized 2650kv 4pole fed by an Arrma BLX200 and a 5000mah 50c 4s battery. The amount of torque that this setup puts out is immense but the truck never feels like it is out of control. It generates forward traction like nothing else I’ve ever driven. When I drove it for the first time there had been a wind storm a few days prior and there were twigs and small sticks littering the area where I was running. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue as my other 1/10 trucks would simply run over them and go on about their way. When the Pro Fusion hit its first stick it picked it up and threw it over my head, where it landed around 30 feet behind me. You cannot stand behind this truck; what ever is under its tires will become a projectile. The Badlands MX28’s have traction in spades in every direction but the low center-of-gravity of the chassis kept the truck on all fours no matter how hard I sawed at the wheel. With other trucks running these same tires there is always a chance of having too much sidebite and flipping during hard cornering but the Pro Fusion just changes course and blasts off in a new direction without protest.

My front lawn features a very tall red maple that has roots extending out around 20 feet. One of those roots sticks up a fair bit and makes a nice launch point if you are going at a moderate pace but tends to send trucks into an end over end series of flips if you hit it too fast or off center. This happened when I wasn’t paying close attention to where the truck was heading. One second things were fine, the next the truck was tumbling. It hit on the right front first and then proceeded to hit each corner as it cartwheeled across the lawn and into the driveway, a span of around 45 feet. The truck landed on its wheels and, other that a few divots in the grass and some scratches on the body, all was well. Usually, this would have torn an arm off or broken a caster block but the Pro Fusion drove away with all of its suspension intact. I don’t want to downplay how hard this hit was; the impacts could be felt through my shoes and into my bones. The sound of alternating solid thuds from the tires and pinging lexan as the body made contact with the earth was enough to send chills up my spine. Throughout testing the truck took everything that the 1/8 power system could dish out and begged for more.

On gravel the truck tracks straight while accelerating and has only a hint of oversteer while cornering. This was a blast to watch as the truck would throw rocks in an arc that followed the truck as long as the throttle was pulled. It was like watching a speed boat on a lake with its wake fanning out behind it, but with flying projectiles and dust instead of water and empty beer cans.

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One issue that I did find is that the stock side guards like to trap debris inside the chassis. After running the truck on some fresh cut grass I needed to empty what seemed like a mulching bag worth of clippings from the truck. Small pebbles and dirt clods also like to collect around the electronics requiring a few shakes to clear out sporatically during the run. It’s not a big hassle but it is something to keep an eye on.

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Likes:
-This is the best handling SC truck that I have every driven.
-Truck develops forward bite like nothing else
-LCG design keeps all fours on the ground no matter what
-Drivetrain is extremely stout but still fairly silent while running
-Is about as durable as a claw hammer
-Flies like a plane, lands like a wet sponge

Dislikes:
-Small debris can get trapped inside the chassis and collect around the electronics

-Steering assembly takes some patience to assemble but works flawlessly once in the truck
-Makes every other SC truck and 1/10 MT seem inferior

Overall, I can’t find much to complain about here. The truck really does make other bashers seem inadequate; even 1/8 MT’s don’t perform on the same level as this truck. For a vehicle that can go from the racetrack to the backyard with only a change of tires and a body there are no apparent compromises. The truck handles well, is extremely fast, and can take a beating all while not costing an arm and a leg. What’s not to love?

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Click the image to open in full size.
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Photo credit: Jessica Barber (@jessbarber23 on Instagram)