Alan_r

All valid points. I too am a vet Chris, 20+ years worth. I run into a lot of us within this hobby. And that's pretty damn cool. Though this has little bearing on why I choose tires. My point was that the prices on AKA and to a lessor extent, Pro-Line, are at a premium. But I expect that because one, they are very high quality. And two, they are made here so I expect the higher price. My point with JC, who by all means make awesome tires, is that they are made in China but sell for US made prices. Just an observation, not a judgment. And yeah, you've got a point regarding the other parts. Novak was in fact built by Americans. It's a shame no one continued the lineup. But like I said in my post, whenever I get the chance to, I will choose something that is made here. Doubly so if the stuff made here is as good or better than the stuff made in China. Which I think we can all agree that AKA and Pro-Line meet that statement. However I should point out that in my opinion, the JC came in third mainly due to tire wear compared to the others on the tracks I frequent. As expensive as these things are, longevity means a lot to me. If I can get two race weekends out of a set of tires I am happy.

But back to the OP, the great thing about being independent is that we can choose and test everything ourselves. Which both Chris and I suggested the OP do. We all know and can agree that tires are responsible for a huge chunk of the success a driver has. I have been very surprised by both the quality and performance of AKA;directly compared to the Proline's I usually run. My experience with JC has been more hit and miss. With wear standing out. Panther does work, but excessive flash and weird molding leftovers on the fresh out of the bag tires; requiring more prep work than the other three, shows either quality control issues, rushed assembly line, less precise molds or a combination of all.

Again, just my observations and opinions.

Jade67

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the solid opinions guys. Very much appreciated for sure. As echoed as well, thank you for the service, even more so appreciated

Mikeand22

iTrader: (30)

Alan and Chris, are you guys aware that AKA offers military discounts? If not, it is worth while looking into. I run AKA because I really like their tires and they're support of the military, same reason I run Tekno vehicles.

bubbaslash

iTrader: (1)

Kudos to those companies for recognizing the efforts of those who protect us.

Chris Brown

iTrader: (19)

I know they do, but I'm not a fan of military discounts. It's a personal think. Aka does make some good tires but they have issues keeping items in stock. I usually run proline tires at my local track though. Plus their factory is literally five minutes from my work.

Alan_r

That would be pretty cool to be so close, I hear they are big on customer interaction. I know the trucks that they send to big races are quite open to fielding questions and comments.

I don't pretend to know why they seem to discontinue all the tires I like to run. I.E Bow ties, square fuzzies.... Regardless, I always have Holeshots in my bag. They seem to work on most outdoor tracks. Blockades make great outdoor SCT and EBuggy tires to start out with as well. I guess they keep it simple with their lineup.

tc5 man

The AKA and Proline tires are made here but the inserts for some reason are made in China other Asian countries.

hairymuffin

iTrader: (105)

I don't know where aka tires are made? They are not made in house, but maybe still made in the US?proline and panther are made in house. It really doesn't matter, just about everything else we use in r/c is made out the country. Even if it's a US brand car company, the plastics are made internationally. If it's not China, it's Taiwan. Funny, I didn't know Jc was not made in house? What difference does it really make? American tires with China/Taiwan car and electronics? ����*♂️

Alan_r

What difference does it make? In the grand scheme of things, none. But we were talking about personal decisions and experiences influencing which tires we like. I just explained how I think about it. Though one could say that every little bit helps. Again, my point was not so much where the tires are made as much as JC charges made in the USA prices for Chinese built tires.

On a side note, as far as not caring where things are made, an argument could be made that that way of thinking got us where we are at today. Lol, surely for another time on a different forum.

I will say this though, my experience with these tires only relates to their outdoor treads and compounds. How would you indoor and carpet guys rate the different brands of tires? Any standouts? I know that when I tested a few different treads from the different companies, I found it extremely important to pay attention to rubber compounds and air temperature. It makes a difference. Supposedly Pro-Line with the X compounds has provided a larger overlap between them. I did notice a substantial difference in tread life between the M3 and X3 compounds using Blockades on a glow 1/8 buggy. Scuffing on the pins near the base seemed to be less using the X3 near the top of its recommended temperature range. This told me that the pins were not folding over as much as the M3 compound; though both tires "felt" equally soft and offered comparable levels of traction.(yeah I'm a dork with too much time on my hands so I test this sort of stuff) So to me, I felt that the X3 compound was the better choice since they would last longer while offering the same performance.

I haven't noticed AKA or JC advertise any diversity like this. Unless of course they build that in to all their tires and simply don't sell the less effective compounds.

hairymuffin

iTrader: (105)

I agree alan, but yes the x3 is a very good compound, even in cooler conditions where they say the tire is "not" suppossed to work well. At the worlds, lots of guys were using m4, but we glued the foam to the wheel to stop it from folding over.. Alan, we will argue that debate on another thread lol

DriveItLikeYSIT

iTrader: (93)

Both AKA and PL tires are made with genuine rubber and their tire tread tends to last longer. This is prob why they're more expensive.

JC and Dialed RC tires are made with a synthetic blend which is why they wear out faster. Why do they charge the same price as PL or AKA?

FYI..Asian countries manufacture 80% of rubber. So PL and AKA tires are made in the US but the rubber is prob purchased overseas.

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

They all use both natural and synthetic blends depending on what the given compound is intended for.

I agree that Chinese production savings should pass on to the customer or the product should be demonstrably superior to a domestic product of equal price.

I only run indoors these days but I have not found jconcepts gold to wear any faster than anybody else's clay compounds, though tread design is obviously a variable.

Skeeter36

iTrader: (32)

Interesting!

bubbaslash

iTrader: (1)

Natural rubber is harvested from trees that grow in tropical climates

Skeeter36

iTrader: (32)

On AKA package:
Inserts made in Taiwan, tires and wheels made in USA, premounts assembled in Mexico.

its crazy how much goes into just putting a pair of tires in a bag lol