DuraTrax Shotgun Tire Review

DuraTrax Shotgun Tires for 1/8 Buggy Review
From: Duratrax
Direct Link: Duratrax Tires

There are a lot of options out there for 8th scale tires now days. DuraTrax has recently entered the market with a full line of budget priced tires, which could be great news, as the single largest expense of racing 8th scale is tires. Do they have decent traction? How long do they wear? Are they worth your hard earned cash? On to the review.

Venue– Dewey’s RC, Springfield Illinois. Small indoor, dirt off-road track. Moist clay that turns to blue groove. Small jumps, wood wall turn, mostly smooth, but blown out in spots.

Test vehicles– Hot Bodies Tekno D8 and Hot Bodies Ve8.

Test drivers– YOUR Cub Reporter plus regional racer Wade Bynum, and pro racer Tim Mohr.

Driver comments–
“My buggy gets kicked around less on square edge holes while using the Shotguns.”
“Less mechanical grip than my AKA’s, but decent grip overall.”
“Better overall traction than what I have been running.”
“I could definitely win with these tires.”
“Buggy pushed a little more with the Shotguns, but once I got used to it, I was fast.”
“Bite coming out of corners was good, side bite was perfect for this track.”

Notes from the test–
Wear seemed to be comparable to an M2 Pro-Line. We tested using 8th scale electric buggies, which are notorious for being hard on tires, yet the Shotguns had plenty of rubber left even after a dozen hard (and I mean HARD) runs.

The actual rubber compound of the tires was in the ballpark, relatively soft, not diamond hard like would be found on other budget tires.

I didn’t see the inserts on these pre-mounts, but they were also right in the ballpark. The inserts seemed a bit softer than a medium AKA, but not nearly as soft as old school foam.

The DuraTrax rims the Shotguns came mounted to were the softest I’ve ever seen, extremely flexible. This can good for some tracks, very bad on others. During our testing it wasn’t an issue, if anything it might have been a plus on our test track.

We drove like lunatics and did not manage to damage/warp the rims, did not strip a hex (even when we forgot to tighten down two axle nuts, oopps!), and none of the knobbies ripped off. Overall durability was great.

The Shotguns have a white lettered sidewall. Some people at the track loved the look, others thought it looked hack. Of course this didn’t detract from on track performance, and if you don’t like the white letters a little bit of love’n with a dremel will take care of the issue.

Overall–
Most “budget” tires have issues, they either have no grip, the rims explode, or they come with junk inserts. The Duratrax Shotgun pre-mounts were good all around tires with no issues and they offered good reliable traction at a very reasonable price point. The Shotgun pre-mounts are great for use as practice tires, and they are more than good enough to be used as race tires at the local level. These are a good bang for the buck tire combo, offering more performance than you would expect from the price point. Are they as good as Pro-Line for race tires? No, in my opinion probably not, but they are good enough to take the A at your local track.

As with all of our stuff, if you see us at the track, stop by, say hi, and maybe we’ll let you take a spin. At the very least, you’ll walk away with some stickers.

SUMMARY

Time To Bash – 9.0/10 – Pre-Glued to Rims, just install.

Workability – NA – NA

Car Show Rating – 8.0/10 – Some people like the lettering, some do not.

Bash-A-Bility – 8/10 – Wear was minimal, and less than expected

Big Squid Rating – 8.0/10 – Tentacles.. You probably won’t see all the big pro’s driving them, but they are good for the price, and work well for local track racing or bashing!