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Old 2012.03.28, 04:33 AM   #1
RC.DNA
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Foam Tyres RCP Track

I have heard people saying foam tyres are usually not allowed to be used on RCP tracks, reason being that they will reduce traction in time for rubber tyres to run on. Is this true and why?
I have been using foam tyres on carpet track and foam tyres do suck up rubber residue from the track and thus reduce traction for rubber tyres.
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Old 2012.07.30, 12:42 AM   #2
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I have heard people saying foam tyres are usually not allowed to be used on RCP tracks, reason being that they will reduce traction in time for rubber tyres to run on. Is this true and why?
I have been using foam tyres on carpet track and foam tyres do suck up rubber residue from the track and thus reduce traction for rubber tyres.
I have tried both PN RCP rubber tyres and X-Power foam tyres on a new RCP track in Hong Kong and I found that foam tyres are great on RCP. Rubber tyres are ok but just not as fun to play with (just my personal feeling). Traction with foam tyres on RCP is great. I was using a MR03 with mostly Reflex parts and a red chilli motor on a 599 body. No traction rolling issue. The PN rubber tyres can only last for 5-6 packs of battery. Not sure if it's becos the track is new. So, my question remains. Why foam tyres are usually not allowed on RCP track? What maybe the reasons?
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Old 2012.07.30, 07:47 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by RC.DNA View Post
I have tried both PN RCP rubber tyres and X-Power foam tyres on a new RCP track in Hong Kong and I found that foam tyres are great on RCP. Rubber tyres are ok but just not as fun to play with (just my personal feeling). Traction with foam tyres on RCP is great. I was using a MR03 with mostly Reflex parts and a red chilli motor on a 599 body. No traction rolling issue. The PN rubber tyres can only last for 5-6 packs of battery. Not sure if it's becos the track is new. So, my question remains. Why foam tyres are usually not allowed on RCP track? What maybe the reasons?
it's really up to the owner of the track. Mixed compounds can be bad for traction so a lot of tracks will say "rubber tires only" "Silicon tires only".

if foams work on your track, which they do on the RCP surface and they are allowed than I would say use them. I would make sure that they are "OK" to run with the track owner.
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Old 2012.07.30, 12:45 PM   #4
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I believe the big reason is that foam tires dry out a little faster than "modern" rubber and silicone tires, and to refresh foam tires you have to use solvents and oils (e.g. traction compound or WD-40), both of which are absolutely terrible for the RCP foam. To avoid the risk of anybody bringing these chemicals to the track, foams are not allowed in general.

In my own opinion, foams are great but hard to live with. They take forever to wear out, grip well, don't "catch" on the RCP (one reason for traction roll) and are less temperature sensitive than rubbers, which makes them great performing tires. But they will dry out before the next race, and you CANNOT use refreshing compounds if you want to keep the RCP intact, so eventually you end up throwing away more sets of foams than rubber/silicone tires.

How new is your track? Has the dust been vacuumed out yet? I like the newer PN tires (X15 front, Radial 6 rear), I have three sets that have at least 20+ packs each run through and they're definitely still gripping... well, the front tires are down to the rim so it's not great for steering anymore.
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Old 2012.07.30, 11:14 PM   #5
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Thanks for your reply, briankstan. I was wondering why "Mixed compounds can be bad for traction"? I happen to know the owner of the new track and he's fine with any parts and components. In fact, none of the racers there have any experience with RCP as we're all so used to carpet. The track is the only RCP track in Hong Kong now. The owner hopes to bring something "new" to the community here. Before this track, there were only 2 tracks in HK and they both run carpets.
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Old 2012.07.30, 11:34 PM   #6
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I believe the big reason is that foam tires dry out a little faster than "modern" rubber and silicone tires, and to refresh foam tires you have to use solvents and oils (e.g. traction compound or WD-40), both of which are absolutely terrible for the RCP foam. To avoid the risk of anybody bringing these chemicals to the track, foams are not allowed in general.

In my own opinion, foams are great but hard to live with. They take forever to wear out, grip well, don't "catch" on the RCP (one reason for traction roll) and are less temperature sensitive than rubbers, which makes them great performing tires. But they will dry out before the next race, and you CANNOT use refreshing compounds if you want to keep the RCP intact, so eventually you end up throwing away more sets of foams than rubber/silicone tires.

How new is your track? Has the dust been vacuumed out yet? I like the newer PN tires (X15 front, Radial 6 rear), I have three sets that have at least 20+ packs each run through and they're definitely still gripping... well, the front tires are down to the rim so it's not great for steering anymore.
Thanks color01 for your comments. I use Tyre Truer to refresh foam tyres and I never use any chemicals or solvents. Having said that, I and some other racers have been using foam tyres for the past week and found that the tyres actually don't need to be trued/refreshed. However, they do wear out, something like 0.05-0.1mm per pack of battery. And we found that the wear-out rate seems to be slowing down as the track becomes less dusty. The owner has been using "pet hair flat surface roller" to clean the track after every race day and so the track is pretty clean these days.
I happen to have tried exactly the PN RCP tyres as you mentioned and my experience is that my rear tyres worn out (became groove-less) in 5-6 packs while front tyres in about 8 packs. Not sure if it's the new track conditions or my red chilli motor, or both. I'll try slower motors (50T and stock) in the next set of tyres. What motor do you use?
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Old 2012.07.31, 03:02 AM   #7
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I can assure you it's not a big motor difference, I'm running a PN 33t with a gear diff and there's quite a bit of power sliding going on. I bet it's the new track, let the rubber "sink" into the RCP and your wear rate will decrease just like it has been doing on the foams.
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Old 2012.07.31, 03:26 AM   #8
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I see. Thanks again, Brian.
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