I have no interest in spec tire racing...which is why I got a 1/12 and not a WGT...

Last time I checked, we don't use spec tires at ALL in off-road, and the turnouts have been pretty good.... Let's not pretend like a move to spec tires will inspire thousands to pick up 1/12 racing, that just isn't the case.

I think your jumping the gun with this statement, not everyone; in fact not everyone from the few that have responded in this limited discussion; is onboard with a spec tire. I think some of you are making a fuss over a very small issue. Lets say this gets done and you have some tracks where the spec just does not work well? A 12th car that is not performing well is not much fun to drive imo, will this really grow the class? I have my doubts.

Also if a spec tire does not include a spec rim them it's useless as the performance of the rim has an impact on how the tire/rim performs. And I can already hear the complaints about how one rim has an advantage over everyone else.

Something else that has been ignored is that if a spec tire is the way to go it should not be chosen by a racer or two.

Here is a simple fix for those who want a spec tire. Decide yourself what you want as a spec and do that, then you only have to carry one set of tires around with you and tune your car to the track. Problem solved.

Until it's determined that your spec isn't good enough, and you're trying to keep up with those that beat you using different tires and a similar setup. So long as you can choose whatever tire you want and legally compete in a race, this solution solves nothing.

True, but I meant that there are only what... 25-30 guys running mod in the U.S.??

This statement represents the same mentality that killed my desire to run off-road... Carrying large storage containers of different tires to/from each event got really old, really fast.

The day will come where those strong turnouts the off-road crowd enjoys now might not be able to be taken for granted, much like the current situation at a lot of on-road tracks nowadays. The argument isn't that we're going to get 1000s of new participants as a result of making a single change, but make it easier for those already participating and a more attractive pursuit for those thinking about joining the hobby for the first time. Seems like a worthwhile step towards increasing our overall numbers at a time when our clubs really could use a boost in regular attendance.

Will throw my two cents in! Being my second season I still consider myself new to RC and feel I can offer decent insight from someone who knew absolutely nothing about RC at the beginning of last season to someone who is making the A's at most races now.

When I started I was recommended to try TC and one other class after awhile and ended up choosing 12th scale. I got the car used which included a box of tires. I had no bloody clue what these tires were or what the colors meant. If I hadn't of taken to it quite quickly I definitely would have just dropped the class due to this. Heck, two years later I am just barely starting to understand how much tires can affect your car. At our club we had another guy buy a 12th scale and sold it a few months later because he couldn't get his head around the tires. He bought a new car this season to try again and I recommended he run only the Gravity RC tires and to have hard/medium fronts and medium/soft rears and this totally solved his problem. He doesn't worry about tires now, just puts on hard/medium to start, then moves to medium/soft when he needs the tires to wear a bit more.

For myself - now that I can wheel the car decently I have decided to only run one compound (blue/blue) anyway and learn to setup my car around those tires based on my needs. This is making it much more enjoyable for me as I no longer have to stress about what tires are going to work for what round.

The 12th scale class nearly lost two more entries (myself and my friend) because of how difficult it is to learn about and choose tires - I can only imagine how many others are moving away or not trying 12th for this reason as well.

My vote would be for 2 spec compounds for each front and rear, similar to what I setup for my friend. The Blue/2x Blue/Green compounds seem to be the best fit for this.

I would also be fine with a single spec tire like WGT. I love WGT for this reason... no one ever complains about tires in that class.

I've been doing the WCICS series. Raced in Saskatoon, Penticton, Victoria, Kamloops as well as the ATS in Calgary. All on Black front Yellow rear. I've been down the road of bringing all the combo's possible. Don't do it!!
It might well be that there's better tires than the Black, Yellow combo but you've still got to put that clean run together.
All that said, I would have no problem with the Spec tire either.

Oops. Forgot my home club race in Airdrie.

That is the biggest problem with this spec tire concept in 1/12 scale. There is no standard offset for wheels like there is in Touring car. If I am forced to run a certain wheel, I am not interested. The same person mounts the foam for all the major brands here in the US, so mounting foam with an identifying stripe would be no problem.

How about the fact that years ago when the hobby flourished, it was a time when you bought average equipment off the shelf and as you learned to drive you also learned to build faster motors and set-up faster cars. Yes it was more involved than that, but the idea was you grew as a mechanic and a driver as your overall skill improved.

I see one of the biggest problems nowadays being that with a big enough budget anyone can buy more speed than their skill can handle. The last 5 or 6 years it seems every effort has been made to simplify this or make it so you don't have to do that or worry about those...... well it makes for great weekend warriors and not hobbyist, and it is likely the hobbyist are the ones who will be around for the long haul.

Spec tires isn't going to save me money unless they are significantly less expensive than normal tires. When racing on asphalt like we do we don't go to the track with 5 different compounds and use whatever works that day. The tire wear is just too high so we have to carry around 1 set of tires per run...so to carry around another compound combination would be another 4 sets of tires per compound combination...not to mention having to re-set up the car for the different tire heights since they won't all wear at the same rate. We just don't have time to do all that in a race day so we use 1 compound combination that works and stick with it. So spec tires or not I'll still be carrying the same amount of tires to the track and still be cutting the same amount of tires. And if those tires don't handle well enough for me then I will lose interest in the class.

Not necessarily. Just because a tire is harder doesn't mean it will last longer. A front tire with less grip will scrub more and wear faster.

I go to only 1 carpet race a year and have no idea what my car is going to do once I get there. Flying anywhere from Hawaii for a race is expensive enough so I don't bring multiple combinations to try. I ask around to find out what fast guys think is going to work well and only bring that combination. It is usually close enough for my pathetic skills that changing to another compound is only going to make things worse for me. There just isn't enough time for me to learn the track and learn how my car feels on carpet to try different compounds and have to re-learn the car each time. One year I did try buying tires at the track and changed throughout the race week...I started doing better the year I chose one tire compound and just stuck with it even if it wasn't the best combination.

There's still a lot--A LOT--for the new racer to get his or her head around whether tires are part of the equation or no. And for that matter, there's plenty to keep the committed hobbyist and racer interested for years without insisting on myriad tire choices.

Are you really fascinated by tires? Really? Color me skeptical.

If spec tires for Stock make it more likely that a new racer, or even a veteran racer, will choose to run 1/12th scale, then that's a good thing. Speaking only for myself, but I'm far less interested in turning fast laps by myself than I am in toeing the line with six or a dozen other guys for actual racing.

FWIW - I don't think we were considering racing outdoors as this conversation evolved - a situation for which a spec tire might be a complete disaster in 1/12 scale. World GT proved to be difficult outdoors on the current spec tire until temperatures were steadily above 70 degrees F and tree pollen didn't coat the racing surface.

spec tire is a carpet only discussion right now.

two different compounds front and rear don't make a spec either --- that is what we are doing today. carrying two complete sets of tires to races, and finding one is better than other. if everyone was in the same boat -- same tires -- then all u have is chassis tuning and driving to save our a$$

Class: 1/12 scale “Gate Spec”
Motor/Rotor: Speed Passion 21.5 (P/N 138215V3)
ESC: Any ROAR approved non-timing ESC in its approved “Blinky” mode.
Battery: Turnigy “A-Spec” 6000 or 5600 mah 1s.
Gearing: 45t pinion and 78t spur.
Tires/Rims: CRC Spec pre-trued.
Body: Open 1/12
Maximum Battery Voltage: 4.20v
Minimum Ground Clearance: 3mm
Minimum Weight: 730g
Maximum Width: 172mm
Minimum Body Height/Wing:
Other:

Not sure how long we have had this class least a year or better. And it has worked out quite well for most that have tried it myself included. New folks to RC, returning Veterans, and somewhere for the our younger members who no longer can be considered "Novice". It also got me back to 1/12th after taking a break from 17.5. which I have now returned.

The tires are trued by someone at the track, so you just purchase at the track sauce and go. The gearing is fixed and the motor has no timing. And the electronics are cheap. Motor $30-35 battery the same. The tires last a long time. It's been a bit so I don't recall how many weeks. Maybe someone else will chime in. I think people are missing the point. National Race attendance will pick up only after we fix "FUN" at the club level. We have to not only get them in the door but then keep them long enough to build relationships and "Commit" to the hobby.

I've recently been running at a place near Lordstown, Ohio called N2Deep(indoor Carpet ) and on Daytona 500 Sunday afternoon I showed up a bit late almost couldn't find a place to park. Turns out I was Entries numbers 69 & 70!!! These guys don't have "Ozite" it's some kind of grey indoor outdoor carpet that fills your car with fuzzies. But I'm having a blast. Their biggest class is Dromeda Spec. I may not have it spelled it "write". They have 20-25 of these $99 RTR 1/18th scale short course trucks every week. Does that mean we should run it at IIC ? Of course not. But as the folks get a handle on what it takes and meet folks in other classes they advance to VTA(which had three heats and another 5 guys buying kits to join in) or one of the other recognized classes. I would have never considered running a " Big" event before but now after getting my feet wet at middle weight events like Gates Halloween Classic. Meeting folks from all over. I am really looking forward to it.

Anyhow if you bothered to read this far all I'm saying is put the "Fun" back in the Club level doing "Whatever it takes" and the racers will come.