WheelNut

iTrader: (5)

Hey, I've been racing off-road for the last 5 years and a new on-road track has just opened in town and since it's a new thing here there aren't any long time on-road racer around. So, I come to you with my simple questions. This is regarding touring stock class. I'm running a bone stock Cyclone S.

1. We are running on a fairly small outdoor track that is just setup in a parking lot. Just swept off, no fancy treatment or anything at all yet, just the basics. The track is quite dusty. I'm wondering what kind of tires would be the best choice? So far some people are using treaded tires like the HPI V-grooves in pro compound, and some have been using slicks from various companies. The results so far are pretty inconclusive. Any ideas for starting points? I'm thinking Much More absolute or Sweep tires, or Jaco Rubbers in a compound suitable for the track temperature. Since there isn't a lot of grip using a thinner or softer insert might be a good idea maybe?

2. We are running anything but normal touring race bodies (mazda6, DNA, etc). I'm wondering what the best handling realistic bodies are? Something with a low flat rear window to provide airflow to the rear wing and a nice tall wedge in the front to get some front end grip. HPI Saleen S7R or an HPI lamborighini maybe?

Thanks for any help

tc3team

I wouldn't know about bodies, but would have thought some sorex 24 would be a good starting point.

Droop will probably be quite an important issue to factor in too with the low grip levels.

chicagokenji

FYI, we have a 110x50 parking lot that we use a gas blower to blow off debris. We then use a 3 gallon hand pump garden sprayer filled with 3 liters of pop ( $1 dollar at the Dollar Store) and 1 liter of water, to spray the layout with. all in all it takes about 10 minutes to blow the track off of all dust and another 10 minutes to spray.

It's totally worth the effort.

trdsupra88

iTrader: (25)

Even if you pierced the cap of a 2 liter and squeezed it...I would think that a covette body would give a good amount of downforce...

WheelNut

iTrader: (5)

Anybody else run on a dusty track?

trailranger

I still race once and a while at a hobby shop parking lot. Not really racing at this place but bashing. The issues with traction normally are solved with the throttle not tires. I tired foams and sure they work after many attempts with sauces. Rubber tires seems to give the best results with little prep. Just soften up the car and it should find some traction.

I noticed that the buggies and trucks that running on the same asphalt have a better time with grip. So I wonder if having those larger softer tires really help.

SammyZ

iTrader: (138)

why is the track dusty if you've swept it?

tim fry

iTrader: (1)

hpi advans work a treat or some medial pro medium compounds.

Once a couple of rounds have ben run you should be able to move to sorex 28s or something similar

StickyFingaz

iTrader: (17)

I used to run on an old bumpy parking lot too. We would have to wait for the women at the nail salon clear out and vacate the parking lot around 8:30ish or so, blow the track off as best as we could, and then set up the track. Racing would start around 9:00, two quick rounds of qualy with no breaks and then mains right after. We'd be tearing the track down by 11:00 or so and then on our way home by 11:30. It was intense.

Hands down, the best tires to use were CS-22's. Ride height set @ 6mm and dampening pretty soft to soak up those bumps. See if you can find some CS-22's around somewhere... i'm sure they'll work better than anything else you try.

As for bodies, its usually personal preference and you can find all sorts of shells going fast (Stratus, Mazda 6, Speed 6, LTC-R).

Syxxstring

iTrader: (6)

Sorex 36r's work really well for our parking lot in Las Vegas.
Also after much experimentation generic grape soda is the track treatment of choice. The key factor seems to be the grams of sugar per serving.

WheelNut

iTrader: (5)

I live in a really dirty far north (lots of snow, so lots of gravel left from winter) industrial town. The streets and parking lots here are ridiculously dirty. The amount of sweeping it would take to get the surface perfectly clean would take way to long.

Sickyfingaz- CS-22 are basically super soft compound correct? Would other tires rated for a similar temperature, 20-24º, work in place of them? I work at a hobby shop, so I only buy things we can get in, and it doesn't look like any of our distributors (we just deal with Horizon Hobby and Great Planes mostly) carry TakeOff. I can get MuchMore, Sorex, HPI/HB and Jaco though. Are "Carpet" compound tires just really soft tires? (like a 20 compound maybe?)

timfry- What compound for the HPI advans?

pcar951

iTrader: (23)

CS-22's if you can get em. Maybe Jaco greens?? Best low traction body IMO is the Stratus multi purpose (very neutral). Mazda 6 > Speed 6 > LTCR > R9R, from least aggressive to most. As others have mentioned, soften the car up. Play with ackerman to fine tune steering response.

joey

iTrader: (88)

i run on a blown off parking lot once a week, i have had good luck with take-off CS27's


as far as setup look for a setup on the cyclone forum for low bite and go from there, i suggest getting a spring kit for the car and try adjusting the setup to your driving style..

WheelNut

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for all the suggestions everybody. Touring car is a whole different world from offroad! I feel a bit lost in RC first for the first time in years! It's kind of refreshing actually.

We aren't allowed to use those bodies. Only street cars. So, no "normal" race bodies (not sure what to call them, is ISTC correct?). I guess it's like TCS in respect to the body rule?

User Name

We race on a sealed parking lot during the summer and our surface is usually medium to low traction. For the better part of last year the tire we had the best luck with was the Muchmore sweep 24. It sucks that you have to glue them but they worked good. I'm not sure if this is the best tire for everywhere though as they are soft and might not last if the traction is higher or the surface is rougher than what we run on. Because of the popularity of the RCGT class at other tracks in my area I have been trying the HPI X-Pattern in pro compound and they seem to be working well.

We also have found that cheap grape soda works the best as far as soda goes but we might start trying sugar water maybe this weekend if the rain stays away.

Shawn Conley
HobbyTown USA
Crystal Lake IL