Tires tires tires
 

So I've been out of the hobby for a few years, when i was racing sorex 36 had been the hot ticket at the local asphalt track, i remember as i was just getting out that sorex had changed the tire compound and lots of people were changing to other brands.

So what's the general consensus about tires for outdoor asphalt on warm summer days, are the sorex 36r's still king? Or are there other tires doing just as good or better?

Sorex are still an excellent choice for tires. There are others brands like sweep, Solaris, and rides but I still buy sorex for outdoor.

If I was running open tyre I'd run Ride's all day long.

And you'd get slaughtered by people running Sorex's ;)
Ride's simply aren't as fast

For Sorex's try to get the prebuilt 36RY's which have the yellow insert.

Skiddins

Around our tight outdoor track in Northern Ireland, Rides 32's are much faster than sorex 32's, about 7seconds. and there is very little drop off in times, where as sorex drop off considerably after a few runs.

Sorex 32's around 12.5 secs
Ride 32's 12.1 Secs

of course this is specific to our track and conditions.

Ride
 

Another opinion is below,i saw this posted on here a few months ago, im only a novice so this guys opinion to me made sense re: the long life,good performance/ consistency of Ride tires.

"Originally Posted by Pattojnr"

last 2 weeks i have done some testing. S411, 3.5T with boost and turbo.

i have tried many tyre.
Edge 36R
Solaris M and H
sweep 36R
Sweep 40R
Sorex 36
Ride 36R

all tyres new, all tyres about 20 mins with warmers.
Edge gave me 16.9
Sweep 36R 16.5
Sweep 40R 16.2
Sorex 36 15.6

then following week
same track different conditions
Solaris M and H , i pulled the car off the track, or the marshall did.
Sweep 36R 17.2
Sweep 40R 16.9
Sorex 36 16.7
Ride 36R 16.2

for our track, we have used sorex 36 most of last year. this was our controlled tyre for the Nationals. they definaltey work well. however, our track, 3rd run, and they just cant cut it. they are slow. First run on sorex and i dont think you will find a better tyre.

Ride 36R
times i thaught were slow, 17.0 16.7 and i think after the 6th run with the tyres 16.2 . i did 8 runs with the rides and also had others use them to try.
and i got them back i think after 10 runs, and still was able to hit 16.5 . these tyres just last. they are slowish to start with, but after a couple of runs, they just get faster each time. so count up the costs. Sorex for the day maybe 3 sets of tyres. Rides, used them all day, and still can be used. i am sold on Rides.

but as far as sweep, i was very surprised that Sweep40R were faster then the 36R. again the sweep40R did last about 8 runs before they tapered off. but for Sorex and 3rd run thats it. is a huge cost to race at the pointy end. i think Rides are just as fast , specially using paragon Fx2.

just my findings over the last 2 weeks or so."

Very interesting! :nod: I have known a few guys that run Sorex for 1 or 2 runs only.

If I had some in my box I'd prove you soooo wrong tomorrow.

This is the kind of stuff that has hurt TC. Having to buy a set of tires every race day, let alone every run. Thats insane. Compairatively some real race cars get more time on a set of tires. I think this is one big reason why off road and spec (vta specifically) has taken off in the US. You can race and practice for several races on a set of tires.

I know some out there dont like spec anything when it comes to racing, but I think it benifits everyone to have a control tire at a track. Do some research, find the compromise between traction and wear and go with it. Those that can afford to put new tires on every run have huge advantage over others.

Pity.

I have run Ride's both indoors and outdoors (Ride 32 outdoors and either 25's or 28's indoors, can't remember as it was a while ago).

I don't deny that the Ride's have a longer lifespan, but when I ran them at Newbury they were a few tenths slower.
When I ran them at WLRC they were similar, but more 'edgy' so you couldn't push as hard.

I have a set of used RE32's that haven't run for about 9 months, you're welcome to try and prove your point.
I'd be very interested in the results :)

Whether or not they are better when new, or after at least one run is very track dependant.
At WLRC before we had the track resurfaced new Sorex's were worth around 0.3s per lap.
Since the new asphalt went down I actually found new tyres are just 'OK' until around 3-4 mins in. They are then consistent almost until canvas is showing.

Aldershot, 1 good run when new, then another one or two reasonable, runs, then they drop off.

Skiddins

Plus 1 for rides. Sorex have better out of the box grip i think but ive run two months on a set of re32s. Seem to stick better everu run. They belted now but ill be buying more for sure. Also quite like the muhmores. Both tires seem to need a runin period. Sorex work great but i definitely feel the need to save them for the mains.
But this seems like a question for your own track. Take the top 5 and see what they running.

Then take that information and put it in the bin. Nothing compares to information based on your own data. We run foams, the fast guys run 37 or 40, but i am significantly faster on 35s. All i did was on the one day run 3 packs on each shore rating and averaged out the results.

The OP would be better off buying or borrowing over a period of a couple of weeks a bunch of different manufactures and compounds and see what works for him and his driving style.

The fastest tires on the market, are no longer on the market. But you CAN still get them.

Take-off 27s or Yokomo 138s, or 139s. On my tracks around here, they are worth .3 or .5 + per lap (18 second laps) over a fresh set of sorexs, and are many times longer lasting. With a modern production TC rubber tire, you cannot race head to head against a comperable driver running these tires. You wont be able to keep up.

http://www.rcspeedshop.net/old-school-kicks.html

:eek:
Really !?