I don't see much discussion about the HPI Advan tires in this thread. Are these just not very popular? Are the X Patterns grippier? I've only run the Advans since I started racing again this past summer, but I just picked up some X Patterns to try out since that's what everyone else seems to run.

I think the main reason people don't run HPI Advans is the cost. They are over $20 a pair then you still need wheels and inserts, so figure over $50-$60 a set and you have to build them. They are also 24mm wide. Most of the popular HPI rims are for 26mm tires. Although Tamiya and Ride do both make spoked rims for 24mm tires. HPI X-Patterns in D-compound are available pre-mounted on nice rims for about $35 a set. The Advans probably grip better, but if the X-patterns grip well enough, the cost savings is substantial.

I've only tried the VTA tires on my old GT car (AE TC3) once last spring. I wasn't real fond of them and felt that ultimate grip was better with the belted X-patterns. This was on medium-grip asphalt, but I will have to say that I did not use any Paragon or Simple Green for that matter.

As for the 26 mm X-patterns vs. the 24 mm Advans, I haven't had a chance to compare them first hand. I know one of our local GT leaders (Aaron) swears by the Advans.

BTW, during the EOS series Aaron was neck and neck with Randy at M&M (high bite asphalt, lots of sugar on the track). Randy ran the VTA tires on his GT car at that location and Aaron ran the Advans. I was running belted 26 mm X-patterns. All of us were doping with black can Paragon. All three of us held things pretty tight until I choked in the main. Not sure what tires Randy ran at the other locations in the series, but it's a good bet he was competitive with whatever rubber he was running on.

The other thing to note about the Advans is that the rules change allowing belted tires must have been relatively recent? I sure didn't notice until recently. So for everyone that has been playing by the rules until that change, the Advan's were not legal for this class.

The change to allow belted tires was made semi recently. Due to the fact that series like the Hurricane All Star series allow the use of Solaris premount tires (which are belted slicks) we figured that there was not a real point in banning belted tires. The rule was originally made since RCGT sort of died in some part due to the belted tires being expensive. While there was a good selection of non belted tires, everybody wanted to go to Solaris or Jacos since it was "easier". I don't know how much it will help keeping people on treaded tires, but it may be a moot point anyway.

Here is my RX8. and '68 Camaro. Both have seen a few races before these pics were taken.


http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps618f22aa.jpg
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u...ps156e31d2.jpg

Nice :)
Although you broke the 1st rule after fitting a freshly painted body! ;)
Always take a pic before running it! :D
Its never going to be the same after you run it ;):lol::lol:

FWIW, here is my TC4/USGT that IndyHobbies painted up for me recently.

Going to make its debut at the big race in Ft. Wayne IN in a couple weeks.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...psea7980f5.jpg

and before you say it, no I'm not normally one of those douchebags that uses #69 for everything because they think it is cute. I just happened to only have the 6 and the 9 left over and my VTA car is #68. So it made sense...

Thing is I painted it, put it in the van while it was still tacky. I was rolling about 75mph up Interstate 65 putting stickers on it heading to Thunder Raceway for the ThunderJam5 race. I kinda didn't have a chance to take any pics. I ordered the Vette C6 and the McLaren bodies yesterday, I'll get pics of them before running em at the Carpet Showdown on March 2nd.

Can you post pics of the C6 light buckets before you paint? I'd really appreciate it! I really prefer the C5 body, but it has been sold out for months. You also can't fit lights on the front because of the hideaway lights.

Captian I'll make a point to get the pics

Its all good, just having a little fun ;)
I try to take a few pics before and after stickering and final fit, just to have a memory of it before i bash the crap out of it on the track :lol::lol:

I looked in the rule book, but didn't really see this class covered by ROAR. Are there ROAR requirements for this class (height, weight, etc) or just the rules outlined on the USVTA site? I'm running TC and USGT at the Region 5 race this weekend and just wanted to make sure everything was legal.

Thanks.

This is a class governed by the USVTA. I don't know what rules exactly the ROAR race will use, but if they say USGT rules, our page is the best source.

Thanks.