Paul Gage Firm, Soft or Shore40 for magnet free Carrera plastic track?

[SlotCat]

Got my Carrera plastic track layout up and running, want some tires with better grip for running magnet free. I called SlotCarCorner couple hours ago and no answer, don't want to use any kinda of tire conditioner if possible, Paul Gage Firm, Soft or Shore40 or?

[HomeRacingWorld]

I find the standard PGT (Firm) best for here. However, wood track non mag. But on other Carrera tracks the standard seems to perform the best.

[Dogsbody]

Not a tire conditioner but of us lot use tire cleaner such as TNT and that's something you need to do every time before you run.

[SlotCat]

I find the standard PGT (Firm) best for here. However, wood track non mag. But on other Carrera tracks the standard seems to perform the best.

Thanks, by 'standard' do you mean the 'firm' or 'soft' compound, thinking you mean firm?

Dogsbody, TNT, Ronsonol lighter fluid or something to clean the tires? I've been using a sticky roller on the tires before running and every so often during running. Wipe my track down with a Swiffer duster before running too.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Just the firm. No need for any gunk or conditioner. Roll over tape to clean of dust and go.

[R/TRandy]

I also run PGT firm on my Carrera Digital track.
I have tried XPG which are the soft and they did work, but I do prefer the PGT.

Randy

[REL13]

What Harry said. If you look at most of the Proxy races, They only roll the tires over tape to clean them, You are not aloud to use anything else. Just my

[SlotCat]

Thanks for all the replies, order placed for several pairs of PG Firm compound tires, I'm excited to try these!

[slothead]

Years ago I asked similar questions about tires for my non-mag routed wood oval. What's the 'best' seems like a straight forward question but it ignores the fact that context matters and generally there isn't an overall 'best'. I use several brands of silicone tires on my oval and some seem to do better with one while others do better with another. They are all roughly equivalent if you account for other factors such as the car, tire width, etc.

All my routed non-mag road course cars have been outfitted with PG tires, mostly the standard type (PGT- firm) but I also get some XPG's (soft) so I can experiment. I find the XPG tires a little easier to mount on the wheels but otherwise it's a case by case decision which to go with. Also, I don't base a choice on a car's best lap. Being able to turn in consistent lap times is what really counts, so I use average lap times over a time trial session.

The best thing to do by far is to try a few pairs of each on a couple of cars. You are apt to find out what's best isn't a question with a single answer.

[RichD]

Sometimes urethane tires will get coated with something that can't be removed with sticky tape. On copper taped tracks we saw copper on urethane tires. When I was testing silicone tires on my HO track and switched over to urethane tires those picked up a residue from the track surface and lost a considerable amount of grip. A good surface cleaner like Simple Green will safely remove both the copper and the residue. I have some microfiber cloth tacked on to a board. I wet one end of the board with surface cleaner and roll the tires through the wet area and across the dry area to wash the tires and remove most of the cleaner in a single pass.
Do not assume that softer tires will always have more grip. Soft tires are more likely to roll under in the corners which will greatly reduce the contact patch. It is best to try both the soft and firm compounds. The Pioneer Legends car that I built has Shore 40 tires, but because of COVID I have not been able to do any testing.

[Modlerbob]

I recommend the standard PGT tires. For whatever the reason is, I have had bad luck with the XPG softer tires lasting for more than a few months before changing color to orange and then falling apart. None of my PGT tires has suffered the same fate. If I were buying tires for a specific race or set of races over a short period of time I probably would get XPG tires as they are grippier on my painted mdf track.

[BiggusMikus]

I tried the PGT tires on my Carrera track and they worked very well, even when running with other cars with stock rubber. No additives needed. I haven't tried the softs, but then I don't think that I'd need anything better than the PGT tires to begin with. I want them to last, after all.