Foam tyres /Rubber tyres..what the....

[patwa]

I am relatively new to this and am a little confused(no shock there) when it comes to tyres (and a bunch of other stuff, but one at a time).
I have no local shop that supplies1/24 drag tyres so it is all done on the net.
Most of the tyres for sale are not marked as foam or rubber and I was wondering if there is some hard and fast rule about which is which.
I have Protrack Eliminators that are foam,does this mean that all Pro track eliminators are foam?
I have some Daytona silicon covered foams,are daytona stockers foam?
I get the fish rubber thing, Barracuda and other fish references seem to be all rubber.
Can some one help me out here ?
Who out there runs rubber ? Do you still run glue ?
There is no local drag strip here and I have built one in the man cave (500 ft) which is attracting alot of interest from friends and racers who usually run 1/32 scaley stuff.
Some direction on this would be great.

[Foamy]

All tires sold for Drag Racing are foam of some type. Most of the "good" ones are a natural rubber sponge.

[patwa]

Thanks guys,
Yes we are running glue at the moment. That could change as it is messy and an extra expense.
Seems that I have confused myself with the 'natural rubber' description.
So natural rubber is actually the soft sponge or what I called foam.Is that right ?
When I saw natural rubber I thought of rubber as in the type of tyre on a standard Scalex for instance.
This is what the forum is all about.
Thanks again.

[4424ever]

PATWA if you wan't to keep it simple and affordable stick will a clean track and ureathane tires, no stock or nere stock 1/32 car has enough power to require foam and glue to make a respectable run on the strip. If you get into the 1/24 stuff it's a whole different ballgame !

[patwa]

Thanks 4424ever,
We are running both 1/32 and 1/24 scale cars.
The 1/24 scale is where we are playing with the the foam and glue set up.
Group 12 and 20 motors are a lot of fun.
No substitute for horsepower right.

[smithspeedway]

Pro Track tires with an "N" in the part number are natural rubber, and generally stickier than the normal part number. For example, Pro Track Eliminators 222 are available both ways as PRO222 and PRON222. If you want to launch really fast with a minimum of mess, rub high spf suntan lotion into your natural rubber tires, squeezing nice and hard. Wipe them clean with a rag. Your car will launch like a rocket.

[smithspeedway]

MX is Parma's base, low budget foam tire. FCR tires are about the same, but have white lettering on them. These are spec'd in special FCR series (the lettering makes it easier to tech the cars).

Tuna is a step up in traction.

Big Ones have a .480 hub, as opposed to MX and FCR which have a .400 hub.

[smithspeedway]

We race on wood, flat latex finish. Pro Track natural rubber tires outperform most everything else here, and are comparable to Alpha Piranhas, which are really grippy. The Pro Tracks also come on the cool five slot wheels. All Alpha products are very good, and I can happily endorse them. They do have a gradiated structure to their products:

Piranha - Most grip, fastest wear "Soft, Natural, Aromatic Rubber"
Chemically treated Piranha - A little less grip and a little better wear
Supernatural - A little less grip than Piranha, better wear, and significantly cheaper
Wonder Rubber - Very light weight, long wearing, least grip

Interestingly, our old commercial track was coated with gloss enamel, and these same two tires were the dominant ones there as well. It should be noted that both tracks were "no glue" tracks.

If you want to restore, or get more grip, from any foam or foam rubber tire.... get some SPF40 or higher sun screen. Cheap brands are fine. Rub the lotion into the tires thoroughly, squeezing pretty hard. Dry the tires with a rag or paper towel. You'll be amazed at the difference.

Steve