Tires for 1/10 on-road

[btsai]

Well, it's been a long time since I've done this (used to race 1/8 scale gas about (gulp) 15 years ago...!

Anyway, I'm interested in getting back into racing. 1/10 on-road. Looks like there are some good cars out there (AE & HPI are my favorites so far... I used to run AE cars).

My question is mostly about tires -- and any other regular expenses. Back when I ran the gas cars, I used about two sets per race day to the tune of about $40-50. (Then on top of that I had fuel and breakage expenses -- probably averaged about $100 per race day. But it was a LOT of fun.)

So do tires last longer now? Cost? What other expenses are common? I know there is always some breakage here and there (suspension arms, etc.), but what else? (And of course it's critical to have good batteries, too, etc. etc.)

Any help/advice you can provide would be great. Thanks.

[gacjr0]

Sedan tire sets will run about $50+ for a set of 4. That includes wheel/tire/insert. Long wearing but still grippy tires like Yokomo 138g/m/f, sprints; proline H13's; Losi Yellows should last you a race day to several race days each. If you're the hyper-competitve type you'll get new tires each week though. Mod sedan eats tires and motors up faster, and requires higher capacity batteries.

[btsai]

Thanks for the info. So maybe the ideal thing is to have about two sets of wheels, and then mount new tires alternately (so you always have a "good" set)? I assume the cost of the tires is about 1/2 of the $50?

The tracks I'd run would be either a permanent track or a good, smooth parking lot. Will that help?

Two more things -- any other "major" expenses (besides initial purchases)?

And finally, how many run in stock class vs. Mod? Or does it depend on what's popular at your local track?

Thanks again.

[gacjr0]

Watch out for hop up disease; it gets expensive and there is no cure. Other than that not much. You'll have to get good at stripping dead tires off the wheels if you plan on reusing them.

You'll have to check out the classes in your area to see what is run. Around here everybody goes from novice to mod; no stock class (it's crazy)!

Also check what tires they run.

[btsai]

I hear ya on the hop ups... I'm fairly decidedon a TC3, but there seems to be a lot of discussion of what level to buy vs. what you can add yourself to be faster.

As far as re-mounting tires - do they come premounted? In the old days we just used to soak em in thinner and the old tires came right off. The only damage I ever really had on wheels was from hitting boards, etc (not stripping...). And do they need to be trued too?

Thanks again.

[Grizzbob]

I think a TC3 is a very good choice, it is a wonderfully engineered car(& it's plenty fast right out of the box, even the Racer version). As for hop-ups, it depends on the surface you run on. On high-traction surfaces, then you might like to try the one-ways(AE makes a one-way to replace the front diff, & GPM makes one that goes into the driveshaft assembly), but you do not want to use them on anything but high-traction surfaces(carpet is the ideal place for them), they make the car EXTREMELY aggressive. Beyond that, you might like the threaded shock bodies(though that's not a neccessity, just very convienient), the bigger blue motor heat sinks, & AE's swaybar sets, those things come in handy for me. Tires are really the big issue, there are foam tires for TC's, but they're only used on carpet(& many carpet tracks don't bother with them, they just use natural rubber tires), & natural rubber tires don't need trueing. For asphalt, some of the rubber tires I like are Yokomo's 137M's, 138G's(also the 138GF & GH, those are firm & hard versions of the 138, best for high temperatures), their Sprint tires(those are soft, medium & firm unbelted tires, very cheap & effective at a lot of tracks), & Losi's Yellow compound(also unbelted, & good in high temps on paved surfaces). Oh, & as for the class I run, I run both stock & mod( to get maximum track time, plus its fun) & a number of guys I know do the same.... :)