traction additives are just that, they increase the grip of the foam, for a given shore rating. decreased shore will also improve grip but with higher wear rates and with a more bouncy or floaty(?) feeling.

first question to ask is what tire sauce is allowed at your local track. is there an 'odorless' rule or any specific restriction? if there is no restriction and others are using Paragon, then start using Paragon.

if there is an odorless rule then try corally 'Jack the Gripper' or 'SXT3.0'.

before applying the sauce make certain the tires are clean. this won't seem necessary until you have seen the difference between dirty and clean foam. motor spray works great, some like to use lighter fluid, SXT makes a cleaner but it needs to soak in. (you can put motor spray on a towel and just wipe, with sxt cleaner you need to rub it in and let it soak. motor spray sounds better but I have found that you need to sauce longer after cleaning with motor spray, it seems to dry out the rubber more than the sxt cleaner.

black/yellow will stay cleaner than magenta/pink, but either should be good for the first 2 minutes.

so:
1) clean the tires, and let dry a few minutes (5-10?)
2) add full sauce (on both front and rear to start) and let soak for 20 minutes (maybe less on the front, maybe more on the rear, adjust after you try any starting pt.
3) wipe the tires dry, put on the body and race

if you leave the tires soaking wet, you will need a couple laps for the tires to 'come in' but this is just letting the carpet wipe the excess off the tires.

try this and share your experience. (I am no expert but have also been very frustrated by very similar experiences)

best of luck