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Tyres on Sport track

How DO they do that??
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wixwacing
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Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:22 am

Tyres on Sport track

Post by wixwacing »

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Archive topic

Just like my question about Carrera. What is the magic tire and prep for Scaley SPORT track?

Thanks,

Dan

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Hiya Dan,
For Non magnet (and Magnet) on scaley Sport.
My Secret ingedient is MJK tyres trued up nicely and wiped over with a multi surface cleaning product called "Pledge clean and Dust" in a trigger pack and allow to dry immediately before each heat, Dont forget to wipe the track clean 1st as being a smooth surface all the dust just sits on the top rather than dropping into the low points like ninco or Scaley classic.
If You wipe down the whole track with the Pledge prior to racing just once at the beginning of a meeting or session, Your Mjk Tyres will stick like dogs poo to a blanket.
This works for Me.
Regards Ted

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Hey Dan,

For stock classes all I do is give the stock rubber a good grind with 80 grit before racing, then get electrical tape and tape all the gunk off. If its close racing I'll tape off between heats....

.....thats how I used to prep the review cars when I had the old millennium up and running....

Later,

Rupert....

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Non-mag. Commercial Track. Never Cleaned. Anything goes except the body is stock.
Nemo saltat sobrius nisi forte insanit - Nobody dances sober unless he's insane

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Hi Dan,

This is a potential hard one from where I'm sitting. Scaley sport Non Mag??? Mmmmmmm?

(Thoughts)


REAR Tyres. Slicks (essential) Natural rubber, treated properly, should prove better than Urethane or silicone. So, its a choice between Slot.it P3's, 'Ninco Racing' tyres and if you are adventurous you may well try some other natural rubber tyres from Fly's (latest) products or believe it or not, SCX (latest) slicks!! I can't comment on NSR as I have no experience with them. But if you have access, include them in your trials.

Tyres (and rims) must be concentric. Tyre tread area must be sanded to get rid of that new outer 'glazing' and expose the business surface. Outer edges must have a small radius to minimise 'dig-in' once the optimum combination has been reached.

I soften my tyres over a three day period by coating the tread area with a thin mineral oil, leaving it to soak, and finally before racing cleaning the tread area with some pure hydrocarbon. ie lighter fuel or similar and a clean rag.

Treating the tread with the sticky side of masking or carpet tape is excellent too, especially for magnet racing. One thing to watch for in non magnet is that if you leave the slot and head for the infield, especially in the opening laps, your tyres will pick up all the crud and debris which has accumulated over the preceeding weeks (or years), it will then take several laps to wear this gravel off again with resultant difficult drivability. Also on longer races than say three or four minutes it will wear off. It's ideal for the start to give you a few straights lead, this will give you a psychological advantage and see the rest of the field struggle and even deslot in trying to catch up (mind games are an important tactic!).

So what next? (thinks) Mmmmmmmm?

If your front tyres touch the track in any way, load bearing or other, make sure they are low friction. I radius mine to minimise contact area and on some models I fit old ribbed (grooved) tyres, something like old SCX tyres. The Wixle pays dividends here too if you are up to it. These suggestions minimise front end drag and reduce a models tendency to misbehave (snow plough) in corners, especially tight ones. Try running your model without front tyres and notice the difference. If there IS a difference then the front tyres will need to be addressed.


Mmmmmm?

Short or long circuit, fast or technical???

Once the grip has been optimised, to obtain extra grip the models balance has to be addressed. This will inevitably mean adding ballast, but how much?

Short, technical circuit, Twisty, up to 25/30 metres

I would try to avoid having a total model weight of more than, say, 95 grams (sorry Dan, I don't know what that is in imperial). The grip advantage of a heavier model is countered by the models loss of acceleration and braking on short straights due to a higher weight. I would also keep the model about 40/60 weight distribution, ie the rear can carry up to 60% of the total vehicle weight.

On larger tracks, 30 mtres plus and shorter speedways then the model weight can go up to as much as 120 grams (providing it's not an NC1 of course!!) The faster straights and sweeping bends will compensate for the acceleration/braking loss.

Ballast is determined by sorting the tyre grip first, getting the best times you can, then adding ballast, initially as low down as possible and between the wheels. Do NOT add ballast behind the rear axle if it can be avoided. Using stick on wheel ballance weights is a useful start point but once optimum weight has been achieved I would then use something I can glue in. Stick on weights have a bad habit of coming loose in a shunt and rattling about inside for the rest of the race!

On a long, fast sweeping circuit I would consider it acceptable to go over the 40 / 60 weight distribution, but no too much.

Long technical circuits I would treat the same as short techs.

Lastly, don't be frightened of adding a bit of weight (up to ten grams) under or in front of the front axle if you find the model leaping from the slot during hard acceleration at the exit of bends and corners.

Hope I didn't bore but that is the starting point, the rest is up to you.

Phil

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Never Cleaned !!!
Gee my Sport is as slippery as a butchers block, for about 50 laps if I dont use it for a couple of days and dont at least give it a wipeover.
For Non Mag I still maintain MJK tyres as a good product I use them on My 70's and 80's no mag Scalex cars and My Fly classics and they hook up the best for outright race grip on Sport, but If You have to maintain a largish fleet and need to keep costs down then You could try Gt's SCALEX SITE
his tyres dont have the outright pace or grip of an MJK but are pretty good and quite cheap. He's pretty much only making tyres to suit older scalextric cars but says He will custom make tyres to order if You have a sample and want a decent amount.

DesloTed

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Hee hee, no mag on Sport!!!!

Load the bugger up with lead!!!!

I used to practice no mag on my old layout, but with unweighted cars, was totally senseless, thats probably why I had an aversion to no-mag racing until recently...

Dan, I'd agree with not using silicones on a dirty Sport layout, I always found they'd get dirty after a few laps and loose any advantage silicone has over natural rubber.

One trick that may be of benefit to you that Dave Dobner (Harry's mate from HRW) put me onto was a technique called "scarfing"....

Basically what you do is cut a few (shallow) grooves in the back tyres. The tyre surface then moves around a bit (like tread blocks in a 1:1 tyre), which generates more grip in the corners).

I have only messed around with it in passing, it does seem to work, but haven't done any in-depth testing or used it in competition. That will change though this coming season as I run non-mag board tracks now every second week at my club (my beloved plastic/mag the other week).

I'm going to use this technique for "the teams" (me and the boys) cars.

Just chuck up the wheel like you would for sanding, get a hobby knife, put some tape around the blade to the desired depth and "scarf" away, just don't get too greedy depthwise or you are going to end up with bloody narrow tyres!!!!
Later,

Rupert....

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Thanks guys. It is along straight but technical infield.


I tried the scarfing once and it seemed to work on super wide tires.

I'll try one thing at a time. On the high speed road course I won with a consistent fast car and opted against my super fast car. Right choice as there is a lot of banging.

On the flat road course I got a second with a light nimble car but suffered from not enough controller and so I devised the shifter. The cars are a handful on the infield in some sections on some lanes as it is a 6 laner. In the middle lanes I will just use the shifter in the forward position which gives the full 14 volts. On the slow lanes I will reduce the power to 11-12 as this allows the car to be driven but shift to the 14 volt setting for the straight.

Dan
Nemo saltat sobrius nisi forte insanit - Nobody dances sober unless he's insane
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