That's how I've been choosing tires thus far too!

That's how I came to try the Grey rears and Lilac fronts as the fastest guy in our club runs that combination on his DB12R. As I said before though my car was just too squirrelly coming out of corners with the Grey on the back so clearly there are some differences in either the cars or the driving style or both

I guess what it comes down to is trying different things and letting the lap times be the final arbiter of what works!

I appreciate the opinions and discussion...thanks!

Cheers,
Mike

Generally if you pick tires that most the top drivers in your area are using you will be in the ball park. As you noticed though due to differences in driving style you may alter that tire combo but it is likely to not alter much.

This brings to mind another question that has been on my mind ever since the Snowbirds...Typically in full sized racing teams will run the hardest tire they can get away with and still maintain a competitive amount of traction. So as grip goes up tires get harder. The reason explained to me was to reduce friction which makes the car faster. Now racing pan car on asphault this seems to hold true as when our grip comes up we tend toward harder tires. But why is it in carpet racing we run so much softer of a tire? So soft in fact that the tires have to be trued very small to keep the cars from traction rolling.

we still run the hardest tire we can and still maintain the tracktion that we need to make it around the track. carpet racing is usually on smaller tracks and tighter lanes. so we need more traction.

i have a base setup that I like to use on a new layout or when I am visiting a new track. I use to start with a purple and gray tire, but lately the lilac and yellow has been my favorite combo. If I need a lot more steering I try a softer front or a harder rear tire. If I need just a little I start to look at chassis setup. Now if I have way too much steering I would look at a harder front or a softer rear. but as stated run the harderst combo you can that give you the steering that you want.

The Birds track I believe was somewhere around 100' by 40' which is pretty close to what we run on our asphault track at 60' by 60'. We run dbl pinks all around where the setup at the birds was typically lilac/yellow. Well hopefully someday I'll live near a carpet track where I can test alternatives just to see what happens

Dpl pink on carpet is not a pretty sight, I've tried it. I have no idea what it is about carpet vs asphalt that causes this difference from a science aspect, would be an interesting study tho.

Edited to add: I would guess that with enough time someone could find a setup that would work for dpl pink on carpet; just need a ton of time and practice to test lots of different setups.

the super stock and mod guys are running double pink on carpet at the nats. and lilac is harder the double pink

is p2 running double pinks all the way around? the couple times I ran with him was a couple years ago when we were still running brushed for stock. he was running purple/grays which is what we run on carpet with brushed. And I know that he was running double pinks with a 7.5 brushless.

I really feel that on asphault guys setup for the rear and find a front tire that works. while on carpet we usually look for a setup for the front tires and looks for a rear that works with it.

Yang,
The 2 times that I raced at TX state champs @ Mikes I ran Purple/Grey then Magenta/Magenta. I think this was due to the change in the brand of carpet used. CRC for the Magenta/Magenta...With the new breed of tires, I'd probably run Lilac/Yellow.

At Hobby Town SA I always ran Pink/double pink, except in 2005 we all ran pink/purple with .018 front springs. Now we all use .020s hence the softer DP front tire.

Here in Hawaii, I've run Pink/double pink and 2 stage DP all around with good results. I tried DP rears and Magenta rears but my car was loose (traction was low too ). Some guys (BMI) are here are using DP all around and their cars handle good. I think that some cars are better suited for different tires types. I know that when I had my R5, I was always looking for more steering....so you could probably get away with a harder rear tire.

That is an interesting observation...might be on to something there.

Even with pink rears that is still more firm then the yellows being used in carpet.

actually if you look at it pink is the same shore rating as yellow. but pinks build tracktion and yellows actually do not. so the yellows are more like a gray

I think it has to do with the natural rubber content differences. For most "normal" situations, I know for a fact the stock/17.5 on carpet, pinks are way too stuck in the rear. And if you were to run a grey or yellow in mod, the wheels would spin/loose traction.

Yang...it's 1:45am your time...go to bed

i agree. some drunk kept dialing my cell phone and woke me up.

anyone???

You've listed all the good ones already. Hard to beat a 9650.