dontfeelcold

iTrader: (22)

Was wondering a few things about carpet racing.

How long does the carpet last until its worn out, starts loosing traction?

How much tire wear do you get running foams on it.(correct compounds)?

Thanksn for any help

Java1970

The tracks I have raced at seem to use the good quality ozite that, for racing purposes, doesn't wear out hardly at all. As for the traction, the carpets will start showing a more obvious grove when using traction compound and some tracks have banned the use of it as a result. If the track owners take care of the racing surface, it will last quite a while, several years.

TraceRacing

Our club bought new Ozite top-grade carpet 3 years ago and at the same time banned the use of "minipin" and "rallyblock" tyres, preferring to go the "carpet dragon" or "T27" route.

We also run 1/12th scale with foams and additive and after 3 years the carpet is as good as new!

Our previous carpet was not as good, and only lasted 2 years with the minipins....

burbs

iTrader: (1)

if the track changes th track layout every week like we do in wisconsin there is not time for the track to get a grove.... if u l;eave the same layout every week it will not last quite as long... since u alway run the same lines.. do diff layouts and certain traction compounds that are not to agfressive...
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we also run rubber tires on carpet.... they are more agressive against the carpet then foam.. and it handles them well...

berger

iTrader: (1)

Where i have raced, the ozite has been fine except for the places that have used rallyblocks and minipins, there it was horrible in parts and probably due for replacement.
Jaco say i believe that your foams should wear fairly quickly when they are in the zone of most grip, but once they are just outside that they seem to last ages with allmost no wear. I know myself and fatdoggy have run small foams with no ill effects.

Joel Lagace

iTrader: (4)

The carpet at our club is 15-20 years old, been rolled and unrolled every second sunday for about 10 years. Currently it still does the job, of course there are patches and some ripples but its doing ok. We plan to replace it when the club can afford it

Cain

iTrader: (294)

From what I have seen at my LHS, the track takes the most beating from the stadium truck races that go on every friday. They do lay down extra carpet over the landing parts of the track but at times people either overshoot or just nose down hard and rip the carpet.

I think the biggest culprit of carpet damage to our track has been the E-Maxx. It just comes down too hard from the jumps and tears it up. Its funny though, when the monster truck class at the track was big, the modified stadium trucks running as monsters whipped up on the monster trucks.

RC Paperboy

My local track put in new carpet about 3 years ago. Its gotten pretty worn out, I think its because of two things which happened at the same time. They got a shipment of TQ8 in, and everyone started running it. The carpet got very greasdy after that. Then someone got lazy, and a layout was left in place for more than 2 months. Now teh carpet is thin in some spots, and its starting to get ripped because of it.

I think the moral of teh story is, change the layout, dont let the high traffgic spots be in the same place all the time.

GoFaster

iTrader: (4)

I see y0ou guys posting about mini pins. Do these work better than foam tires??

fatdoggy

Jacos really are the ONLY option if you want to keep up. Yep 55-53mm is my favorite range. Much lighter due to less foam and very stable. I can run about 2-3 weeks (8-12 races) in this range. Of course it all depends on setup and smooth driving but in general the lower they get the better your car will feel(imo). Once they get lower then 53mm I start to have problems because my suspension arms won't drop any lower(haven't gotten around to dremeling them out for more travel yet).

As far as compounds I like Corally's TC3 compound. It stinks worse then paragon but it does a great job once you've done a few laps and the foam has warmed a little. Your not able to wipe the compound off completly, you actually have to go out and run a few easy going laps in practice to get the residue off before the main.

Brian McGreevy

iTrader: (10)

Fatdoggy,

You must be using old jaco's cuz the new ones won't even go to 53 mm, i don't think

Depending on the type of carpet and what cars run on it, it should last anywhere from 3-10 years. Foams won't wear the carpet as much as rubber tires will...sliding tires are harder on the carpet than gripping tires. If you race stock, your tire wear shouldn't be more than 1-2 mm for a whole night/day of racing.

fatdoggy

You can get the new ones to hit 53mm, their just pretty much shot. I think the rims are around 51 to 51.5mm in diameter. I'll check what I was running last weekend when I get home, I know the fronts I had on were the old style and I had them at 52mm.

Java1970

Very true, but when you race on a carpet oval, kinda hard to change the layout.

burbs

iTrader: (1)

ahhh yeah i guess that true.. see we run oval and road course on the same track.... they set up the road course every sat and we run oval fri nights... im assuming your track is banked???? or there is only ovakl in your area...


banked carpet tracks will wear very fast... not the straights but the turn do take a beating.... most baked tracks ive been to get maybe 2 years out of the carpet in the turns.... but thats all they ever replace.. to so it is a bit cheaper..

fatdoggy

Brian McGreevy - I checked, the old rims are 49.5mm and the new ones are 50.5mm. I had 53mm in the rear and 52mm in the front.