Gang!
Here's a risky question that I will put out here: I seem to be having trouble at my local track with the newest and latest verion of CRC Fast Track carpet with the rubber backer. It is seemed and stretched over a smooth concrete floor. The majority of the racers use TQ traction sauces; 12th guys have been using TQ Plus, the 8 minute sauce. Our mod group is having trouble getting our cars to run for 8 minutes without a major handling change up. Most of us loose rear grip around 6-7 minutes while another looses front grip. I have been doing this for 20 years and this has been a real head scratcher. The rest at the track are not rookies either. We have tried just about every tire manufactured with just about every chassis set up.

So the question is: has anyone else suffered this issue and found a solution?

Having the same problem and have yet to find a solution. Though IIRC I didn't have the problem when I ran my Corally (Corally tires)... I'll be going back to racing my Corally pretty soon most likely and I'll let you know...

What kills me, is that all the same tires worked very well on the carpet we had before which was some kind of Ozite knock off that got all fuzzy. I have been to other tracks in our region and can not find this issue. I guess that's why I am asking about the Fast Track carpet with TQ sauce. If Paragon is present, then it would be a hole different ball game.

Deep down, I feel that it's a tire/chassis set up that I have just not hot upon just yet.

Does anyone know if this is happening at Stockton?

Ozite
 

Slapmaster,Having the same problem at the home track.The LHS switched to the CRC ozite this winter.It seems to ooze the traction compounds which builds up a glaze on the foams.If your not meticulous about cleaning them each round thats how they behave.Been trying all kinds of ideas.Seems alcohol or baby wipes work for some.I skim/true my foams each round.Hope this helps some.Mario.

Ive been having the same problem also. I mostly contribute it to a setup problem because im new to 1/12 but around the 5-6 minute mark I start pushing pretty hard. We have new CRC carpet the version 2 stuff i think its called but it has a ton of traction. I dont put any Paragon GE on the front tires and that seems to help a little bit but I do notice that they get "glazed" or dirtied up after a run. Most of the racers in my area use lighter fluid (cheap stuff yellow bottle with a blue top) to clean thier tires, that stuff works really good. just squrit some right onto the tire and let it set for a second or two then wipe it off as if u were wiping traction compound off. Bam clean fresh tire for more traction compound.

Brian,

Yes I was having the same problem with TQ max (orange). Way to twitchy for the first minute but good at the end or good for the first minute and too pushy at the end. This week we started allowing niftech sauce and it's VERY consistant. You will need to sauce the front more and sauce multiple times but it was working very well. The only issue that may arise is that if we go to niftech exclusively, when the tq comes off what will happen. It is the most consistent i have ever had a 12th scale run from first to last minute in stock and 19T.

Chris

Can someone please refresh my memory on the proper way to shim the slop out of the front suspension?? (Tforce)

Thanks,
Kevin

Just got back from a 2-day race in Mandan, ND where they bought the carpet that had been used at this years Cleveland race. It was my first race on the new Ozite. I used the Niftech compound--saucing early and rubbing it into the rear tires, inside half of the fronts and letting it soak-in on its own. In one early round it seemed to get a little loose at the rear at about 6-7 minutes but other than that the traction seemed good. I bought the Niftech compound when I was picking up some other parts from them and Ray told me about their stuff. He said the idea behind their product is it isn't supposed to get "sticky" so it doesn't get a lot of "pick-up" on the tires. Other than the odd little bits of this and that on the tires when I pull it from the track the tires really were cleaner than I'd seen with the TQ, Trinity, or Paragon that I'd used before. The tires also felt (and looked) much like they did when I put the car on the track. It also didn't seem overly affected by other compounds on the track and I saw people using just about everything.

fwiw, it's not like I was out circulating at the back--I qualified 4th in the 'A' out of 23 drivers. The guys there put on a GREAT event, especially for a small club. There were racers from ND, SD, MN, MT, and Canada. About 1100 miles round trip for us. I've just moved from Seattle to Billings, MT--told my buddy that 6 degrees below just wasn't cold enough for me now, I had to go to Minot where I could experience double-digit below PLUS a 40-knot wind...

Scottrik
brrrrrrrrr

traction problems
 

Slapmaster6000,
If this is the same carpet that was at the Indoor Champs, many people were chasing setups. There was less side bite. I had to run softer tires all around, a softer t-bar, and front suspesion springs. I ended up with CRC magenta rears and soft plaid fronts, .074" t-bar, and .018 springs. I ran niftech traction and it stayed costant the whole run.

Can someone explain how changing the servo mounting position changes handling? I race on carpet and most of the guys swear by laying the servo down directly on the chassis, so I did the same and never tried the servo mounts. I'm thinking about trying the servo mounts just out of curiosity and was wondering what I should be looking for. :confused:

we are running the new crc carpet as well. our track allows paragon, but i am using niftech. as long as you let it dry on the tire it seam to keep tracking the full eight min.

Niftech works extremely well on tracks that already have a good groove, but Niftech alone doesn't seem to work as well. Niftech doesn't settle into the carpet and create the kind of groove that Paragon, JTG or TQ does. Niftech is however, the ONLY compound other than Paragon I have found to give consistent bite for an entire 8 minute run. I guess in a perfect world Paragon would be legal everywhere and we wouldn't have to have this discussion.

I love the smell of Paragon in the morning.

I love when monday morning after racing sunday my car smells like paragon.

If Pargon is that good why don't all tracks allow it ?? Is it a personal choice or smothing to do with how it affects the carpet ?? I have used it in the past, but not on carpet...

It has a strong wintergreen odor, so many tracks don't allow it. The health effects of Paragon vs. the other available compounds have been debated over and over again with no conclusive result. The one thing I know after 20 or so years of racing is that PARAGON is the most consistent compound available.