Airwave

iTrader: (1)

I don't think these tyres are wider in the rear. the four are 26mm.

Honestly if it could be a way for everybody to abandon tyre sauce, I would sign immediately, but I know you guys, you love so much this precious cancerogen liquid...

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

The Gravity foams do have a front and rear. Just slightly wider. There was a notice in the package about this.

heretic

So we have: unequal wear F/R, thus truing required between runs to keep diameters in check and re-adjusting you droops and ride height,

plus: chunking, which means gluing shenanigans and truing to decrease the thickness of the foam.

I mean no offense, but seen from afar, people who are enthusiastic about foam TC really seem out of their minds...

Like Airwave said, I would be willing to endure this if it meant no sauce, but that's not happening.

GrandeGixxer

iTrader: (21)

If you ban sauce, people are still going to do it and cheat. Impound tires?

YoDog

iTrader: (28)

Just run a separate foam class. Tires will be cut, non-spec sauce will be used/experimented with and the class will eventually die... again. The only thing that seems to have been corrected is a good spec. compound. Everything else is unlikely to be manageable except at a big race where they can be inspected before and after heats. Clubs are unlikely to spend the time and effort to control the tires usage. I can hear it know... "Hey, your tires were trued to XX diameter which gave you an advantage"--- "No Way!" "They wore down to this diameter from the 8 heats I put on them last week". " My setup is so good, they all wore exactly the same to the tenth of a mm".
Cut tires will always be advantageous so they will be cut otherwise they are 1 run tires. You would have to use a new set every heat to be fair.

Antimullet

iTrader: (65)

Yea completely insane like the 1/12 foam I’ve been running since the mid 80s. 🙄.

That test was with mod as well. Give it time. Testing stock now. A friend just did as well not much wear at all.

Better times and speed. It’s racing not spec slowing.

slotracer577

We tried no sauce on mudboss and found the tires built up badly. Sause keeps that to a minimum. Easier to let everyone use sause than try to police not using it.

Our local track runs both foam and rubber tires on tc. Seems to work fine.

YoDog

iTrader: (28)

Keep in mind that spec racing wasn't created to make the cars slower, it was created to make things more equal/controlled. Nearly every form of motorsport has specifications put in place to make racing more competitive on the track rather than dictated by budget and IP. It's this inequality that has driven away a lot of potential racers because they are not willing to dedicate their lives to a hobby. It's a hobby for most people not a sport. The goal is to attract more participants and whatever works to that end is what will keep racing alive. Maybe foam sedan will help but given the past track record, i'm not so sure. If you are not growing, you are dying. 1/12 is starting to make a resurgence because of spec controls, not the other way around.

Lone Drifter

Although I like the Idea of no Tire compound, if I can run a track (outside )without compound I still use it.
If the tire are sliding a bit I notice a lot more tire wear.

MaxRain

iTrader: (2)

If we want to grow the hobby and the number of racers, we as a community have to make more noise against the rest of the electronic industry. The problem is that the rest of the industry is doing a far better job at attracting the eyes of interested parties.
Someone has to make a very good video game that will run on PS and Xbox. Having it on PC is not enough to attract new young racers.

Antimullet

iTrader: (65)

I completely understand and agree with your viewpoint. My point is introduce the foam tire class in 17.5TC or mod if you run it during some club races to test the waters. If it takes off, you already have a spec foam tire to run (Gravity) and they are cheaper than rubber.

There is enough rubber sedan and pan classes, WGTr, USGT, F1, 25.5 TC, 21.5 TC, 17.5 TC and sometimes mod TC in rubber. That to me is a very big barrier to entry for some guy on the outside looking in, overwhelmed with classes. Then I quickly find out my rubber tires on Black high grip may last one or two solid race weekends before dropping off, and I need to buy another set at 40 a wack to stay competitive. I have yet to find a rubber tire for 17.5 that works optimally for more than one MAYBE two full races if I push it.

At 20 a pop the gravity's are a great pricepoint, and if it gets popular competition will drive that cost down further.

Additionally, I would say 1/12 has never really lost its fanbase, because of the use of foam, and the attention to detail in setup. Also, I would say a lot of the Foam TC guys stayed racing with 1/12 helping to keep the class popular.

This is not meant to go back to old ways of thinking, for me its to go back to what made this sport popular-racing and self-improvement of your driving capabilities thereof, to include learning lines and chassis setup. All part of the draw for me.

I can get a rubber tire car dialed and then the tires start going off and you chase setup. Very annoying at times. The performance degradation of foam tires used over time is no where near as drastic as a rubber tire heat cycled into uselessness. I see it every club race with some of the less experienced racers.

Something that is not a barrier to entry is less classes, cars easier to drive and setup, and cars that drive consistently... IMHO I believe that is with foam tired cars, that's why I love 1/12...

Marcos.J

iTrader: (239)

hmm looks like most of the issues with tires is the crc high grip carpet, i say get rid of carpet and just race on sealed concrete (insert sarcasm in here)

with foams im sure is a matter of time before they are cut/trued to the bare minimum to get the advantage of it just like in the past. Yes they are cheaper now until the demand for them go up.

YoDog

iTrader: (28)

Antimullet,
Nicely put!
I just got back into 1/12 because of spec tires and loving it.

YoDog

iTrader: (28)

+1
The problems that plagued foam TC in the past still exist. Not saying that I wouldn't run Foam TC though.

Marcos.J

iTrader: (239)

I’ll run it but do as before run what ever brand or compound , if is going to be a spec tire them have a certain “mm” set before the run if your tire is less then you are sol you can’t run .