Tyre Testing
Note. Photos are 250 x 167, just click on them to enlarge to a new tab.
The Test Skid Pan - The Test Chassis
The track is painted with household emulsion, with copper tape for contact. No Magnet force here
The chassis is NSR 997 Rally. Standard, new and nothing add, no 'E' number here.
I plan to send a car to the 2012 RAA proxy series. That was the main reason for making this pan. To help balance the car up.
The plan: I wanted to keep as much consistency as possible, therefore, the track and chassis are the constant.
The only thing to change will be the tyres, volts will differ according to how much volts it takes for the chassis to start to drift.
The tyres I plan to use in this test are:-
WASP. The main reason for doing this test. URETHANE, new kid on the block, one of the best tyres I have used.
PaulG URETHANE. Very large wide stock of tyres, all makes and sizes, A1 guy, quick and easy to deal with, very helpful.
Super tyres, Yellow Dog. Slot Car corner. Nic Hobbies. Two types, Silicon and URETHANE. Silicon the best, but track needs to be very clean. URETHANE. Not as quick as the Silicon, but great tyres. If you’re going to be doing a Proxy race, RAA, Super Tyres seem to be the main tyre of choice.
NSR. The best rubber money can buy. WC slot car maker. Italian. Buy from TS&T or Pendle's
Slot.it. Again, they make Rubber and Silicon based tyre. Also very good. Italian. Buy from Pendle's or TS&T
ORTMANN. Made buy Michael Ortmann. Vast range to fit most slots. URETHANE. These used to be the tyre of choice, but something has changed and they are not as good as they used to be, in my opinion.
So, that's the list of tyres out of the way. Now onto testing.
All tyres had their own wheels. Tyres trued and glued to wheel before testing.
Taking the formula for 'G-Force as - G = (1.226 x r ) /t2
The Volts column is just there to show how fast the car is going to archive the G #.
The Results.
These are the results for my skid pan, not yours. You will come up with different results. All tracks are different.
What I did find. Slot.it 'P' tyres, the more laps they do, the hotter they get. The hotter they get, the sticker they get. and start to grip better.
A tip - if your club uses Slot.it 'P', keep them on their own wheels and keep very warm until race time. Are there 'heated blankets' for slot car tyres?
When I suggested doing this test, a friend said you will see a big difference between the makes of tyres. NO, I said. I doubt there will be much in it. And as you can see, there really is not much in it between the lowest and highest numbers. CW = a difference of 0.384G and a time of 0.147s. CCW= 0.331G, & 0.201s.
I love the Slot.it, because it gets sticky (I must buy some of their other tyres, The 'C', 'F', 'P, 'S', must do the same with NSR). Just like touching sticky tape. NSR, very smooth and the longer they are running, the better they perform. WASP & PaulG. I have been using Paul's on most of my car for a while now. WASP are new to me. But if I had to choose between them, I would have to buy both. Super Tyres. If only I had cleaned the track before I tested these. I may test them again, once I have repainted the pan. I'm sure I could get a better time. They work well on latex/acrylic painted wooden track. So I may paint it with that and try again. I feel bad about the Ortmann's. They just did not work the way I expected. Even though they were new, trued of course. But not high on my shopping list for tyres. Go back to the original formula.
The next time I play with this, I will get a Chassis and balance it up on standard rubber. That will make a difference.
The Cost.
WASP. Wayne sells at very completive prices. £1 per tyre, £2 for a rear set of two. He will make up tyres for you if he does not have a mould for them. just send him the tyres. Best to send in pairs, as this speeds up the process. More info on Wayne's site.
PaulG Paul's price depends on what tyre you are after. Sells in packs of 4, 2 Pair. Very extensive range. 1:32, 1:24, Drag, HO, 1:43 etc. Paul is also very quick to respond to your emails. Paul also sells a kit, for you to make your own tyres at home, office or down the pub. Well he used to, but I cannot seem to find it now.
Super tyres, Yellow Dog. Vast range of tyres. And if you go to their site you can order a Wheel and Tyre chart. Lots of info. Price is around the £3 to £4 mark depending on what you're looking for. If you live within the UK, best to deal with Nic Hobbies. Very helpful guy.
NSR. Depending on who you buy from TS&T or Pendle's NSR sell in sets of 4, 2 Pair and price depends on what tyre you want. But TS&T seem to be the cheapest.
Slot.it Same as above really. Both good guys to deal with - slot.it tyres from TS&T are all at £5.99, Pendle's are different for different tyres.
ORTMANN. Vast rang and all sell for a different price. But between the £3 & £6. Sold in sets of 2.
The Next TEST.
I plan to go through all my race cars.
Stay tuned for more testing.
Silicons do not wear, but URETHANE do. Silicons pick up and can clean a track. USA love them. Over here in the UK, clubs do not like them. For whatever reason. I have never had a problem.
Tips.
The best tyres by far are silicon, then urethane then NSR rubber. But again, it’s a hell of a lot to do with track surface. And what paint, plastic you’re running on. The guys over the pond seem to favour latex paint, so it stands to reason, silicon will work well on it. Something I have learnt. When truing. Use P180 to get the size, then W&D, 1000, then 1500 and finish with 2000 or higher. You must wet with water. Then you set them on a flat plate and lower the tyres on to the polishing papers. Drip water on the tyre as you polish. With the Slot.it and NSR wheels, I fit to a cut down axle and fit to my DREMEL, spin that up on its lowest setting. Urethanes will polish in as they run. Silicone won't. But then urethanes wear and silicone doesn't.
A good video to watch.
Thanks for reading and Please comment on what you have just read. There will be a link on SF and SCI. Or just send me a mail.
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