Tire Recommendations

[slowshoes]

I've always kept most of my cars stock, including the tires. As my cars age, some of the tires have become hard as a brick, and have made some cars undriveable. (many of my Carreras have been especially prone to this, as well as some Flys and Revell/Monograms).

I have quite a few Revell Nsu tt's and Trabants that I'd like to get new tires for - any recommendations for tires for these cars? Any tips on how to accurately measure the original tires in order to get properly sized replacement tires?

Thanks for any help.
Bill

[RBPhillips]

I've had great success using the Paul Gage Tire Finder to match what part number will be an instant fit for Carrera and Scalextric. Heck, some I swap when the cars have only a few hours on them! On my Carrera long-nose Torinos, I pick up a bit in lap time by reducing wheelspin off corners (even on the oval) with no other changes. Either original or XPG hardness work. I have a plastic track, so I don't use Quick Slicks generally, but you can do the same approach there....Message the companies if your model isn't listed.

[Fast Co.]

A little more information is needed. What type of track surface do you race on - plastic or wood? Do you race with a club that specs tires?

Generally, there are four tire compounds - rubber, urethane, silicone, and sponge. Our club (SCANC) runs rubber tires almost exclusively and urethane on cars with plastic wheels. But that's just us. Many clubs prefer silicone, urethane, or sponge.

For rubber tires we prefer NSR SuperGrips or one of the Slot.It compounds such as F15s or F22s. These tires are high performance and age well. We rarely run Ninco cars anymore, but the stock Ninco rubber tires on their cars is excellent and also ages well. Rubber is easy to true and it gives excellent grip that only gets better as your track ages and gets "rubbered-in".

For urethane, Paul Gage can't be beat. You can contact Paul through this website and he will give you detailed information about which of his tires fit which cars. Great customer service. Slot Car Corner has a tire selector for Paul Gage tires - https://www.slotcarcorner.com/paul-gage-tires-c238/. Urethane tires are very easy to true and provide excellent grip even when the track surface is not absolutely clean.

I don't have a lot of experience with silicone, but Quick Slicks seem to be a popular choice. The Quick Slicks website has an excellent tire converter to help you find the correct size tires for your cars - http://www.christiangingras.com/slot...php2/tires.php. Silicone is more difficult to true and requires a dust-free track for best performance, but will give outstanding grip on a clean surface.

[RichD]

If you are looking for tires to fit your original plastic wheels sponge tires are usually not an option. With Slot.it and NSR rubber tires those are made to fit more or less standardized aluminum wheels and are not likely to fit any of your plastic wheels. There are silicone or urethane tires made to fit most plastic wheels and have the correct OD for your cars. If you go to the Slot Car Corner site there is a selector for both Quick Slicks silicone and Paul Gage urethane tires.
In some cases tires made specifically to fit your car may not be available. If you post a question about that here someone might have a "close enough" fit. The ultimate solution is to replace the rear axle assembly, including the axle, gear, wheels, tires and possibly the bearings with aftermarket parts. That would be an expensive choice however.
In some cases OEM replacement tires might be available, if they are they may have been on the dealer's shelf for some time and already have one foot in the grave. Silicone and urethane tires have a much longer life than most rubber tires and silicone tires resist wear much longer than rubber or urethane tires.
If you must choose between silicone and urethane tires there are several things to consider. For a start there is the issue of casual running at home VS club style racing. If you might want to race with a club you would want to use the same type of tires as they do. For strictly home use either type will give you better grip than your cars original tires. If you will be running some cars with rubber tires urethane tires are said to be a better choice for the tires that need replacing.

[dw5555]

Bill if your looking for stock tires for your Carrera cars you can find the stock tire part numbers from the link below. (Go the the "Racing Track Spare Parts List" and click on the car you have) Once you have the part number you can do a search and see if anyone has them. Bruce at Cincy Slots carries some.
Dave

https://www.carrera-toys.com/en/2882/downloads

[ZackM]

If you have not done a lot with tire, and want something that just slips on and works well. The Urethanes are really the way to go. They are easy to sand, don't try out as easy as rubber, and still provide solid gains in performance.

Paul Gage, BOSA, and others all make a great selection of them.

Zack

[slowshoes]

Thanks for the replies fellas - much appreciated. I'm running my cars on Ninco track. I'm a home racer that runs cars by myself or with friends and family. (hopefully grandkids soon - still a bit young.)

The Ninco rubber tires are great on Ninco track. I have spares for Ninco classics - If they fit on some of my cars that are struggling to get traction, I'll put them on the rear, and then put the stock tires back on when they go back on the shelf. While the handling is greatly improved, the Ninco classic tire size is often smaller that the original tires, giving the car a goofy squatting appearance.

I'd hate to get into replacing rear axle assemblies if I can avoid it - my wallet would be much happier just finding a good replacement tire. I just ordered a set of Paul Gage tires to try on my Carrera hot rods (I tend to like cars that most car clubs don't have any use for), so we'll see how that goes. I'm going to contact them regarding tires for the small Revell/Monogram cars too. Some of them still run fine with the stock tires, while others look like they're driving on ice, the traction is so poor.

Thanks again for the advice, suggestions, and links - very much appreciated. If there are any more suggestions for what works well with Ninco track, or any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Bill

[mattb]

When you put cars back on the shelf, put a spacer under the car so it rests on the frame and not the tires. I don't run urethane, I am not really an HRW guy, I run 1/24 on a wood 1/24 track. We run sponge coated silicone, much different than the guys here.

The overwhelming choice here is Paul Gage. Probably 60% or more of these guys run his tires and have great results. They superglue to the rim and sand true, done! the more you run them the more rubbered in the track gets and better they grip. Do not clean your track with alcohol. Wipe it with a tack cloth to remove dust every now and then and go racing.


I am on this forum because there are more guys here that actually do stuff than just talk about it.. They remind me of me!
You will learn all you need to know by asking questions here.

[slowshoes]

That's one beautiful track Matt - nice work! Thanks for the tips as well. I'm still waiting for my Paul Gage tires to try on my Carrera hot rods. If they work well for me, I'll be buying more to replace more aging Carrera tires. I'm still looking for replacements for my small Revell/Monogram cars as well.

Bill