Which tires for a painted plastic track ?

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Which tires for a painted plastic track ?

Postby rick42 » Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:42 pm

I have read posts that say not to mix silicone with urethane tires on the same track , that one will kill the grip of the other. Which would be better for a flat latex painted plastic track ? I am running mostly 132 cars but some 124.
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Re: Which tires for a painted plastic track ?

Postby HomeRacingWorld » Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:56 pm

The whole silicone effect isn't an issue as far as my track. (Same paint as yours). It takes many, MANY laps to effect anything and once a I run a few laps with a stock rubber or PG, whatever was there (or not there) is irrelevant. I have tested silicone for hundreds of laps on my road course and it didn't "ruin" anything. I placed cars with PG urethane right behind it and they ran just fine. You will hear the opposite...just reporting my findings HERE.

I run a mix of all but mostly PG urethanes. So my advice is not to be afraid of trying either silicone or urethane.

Another tidbit of you don't mind?

Silicone is extremely difficult to sand. Almost impossible for the AVERAGE home racer. I use PG Urethane on almost all of my models and they grip excellent.

My rule of thumb is silicone is best suited for aluminum wheels that are true to start with. Meaning the tires fit that wheel just about perfect with no need for sanding.

For most every plastic wheel, especially all the variety of sizes out there, I choose PG urethane. Easy to sand to true to the wheel you installed them on.

Finally, with the latex you are using you might notice a gray film or residue on your tires. Common until you wear that surface in. NO tire, especially silicone will perform that well until that surface is worn in.
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Re: Which tires for a painted plastic track ?

Postby dw5555 » Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:33 am

Rick, Since you are basically starting out what I will suggest is that you try and stick with 1 type of tire whichever you decide. Like you I have a painted Carrera track and use PG tires on 95% of my cars. Unlike Harry's experience, on the odd occasion I do run sillies on my track they do not handle as well. Remember that silicone requires a cleaner track to work well. Urethanes are more forgiving with dust.

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Re: Which tires for a painted plastic track ?

Postby buspor63 » Thu Jan 18, 2018 3:36 pm

I like urethane tires because they are most like stock, only better. They are plentiful, cheap, easy to use and don't go off when dirty. Hey, I hear you can even make your own.
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Re: Which tires for a painted plastic track ?

Postby mikeinclover » Thu Jan 18, 2018 5:09 pm

Don't worry about that to much. We have run test and proxies on our track never noticed any adverse effects. As for tires all we run here are silicone, not sure why you wouldn't if you like traction. If you clean your track you should be fine. It doesn't take much time to wipe down a track. I always wonder about someone who has a dirty track, maybe they are dirty in other aspects of their lives.
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