Paul Gage Tires: XPG vs PGT?

[Fourshipp]

Thoughts on tire compound preference? We are ready to order tires for new Carrera 124 cars. We run front mag only but will experiment with magless after we get new tires installed. Currently running Carrera plastic track, unpainted. We are considering painting the track later this winter...depends on our spare time.

Any preference between the harder or softer tires for our track and cars?

thank you,

Bruce

[Eric P]

We use PG tires on all of our Carrera 124 cars. A quick look at his page shows that he only provides one compound for the cars so you can't go wrong. We too run only the front mag and the performance is great on plastic and wood.

[GT40 Racer (DM)]

Paul offers XPG and PG tyres for 1/24 Carrera cars. I would recommend the PG tyres. Not sure if it was a bad batch but we used the XPG for a while and on half a dozen of my cars at least one if not both of the tyres have turned a transparent reddish colour and dissolved. The standard PG tyres have held up well for years. I give them a light sand with 1200 grit wet and dry to tidy them up before a race.

cheers
David

[Fourshipp]

Thank you. Appreciated.

bruce

[BRS Hobbies]

PGT all the way. Plenty of grip.

[Giddyup]

Agreed!

[WB2]

I have a good number of new tires that, when stretched, appear to be translucent red.
These were purchased in the last few months. I hadn’t noticed before. They were not 1/24 tires.
I do have PG tires on my Carrera, BRM, and lone Scale Auto 1/24 cars. The BRM tires are marked XPG; the Carrera tires are only marked with the car model, sales as the Scale Auto tires.
I’m going to try some from slotcarstyres as PG doesn’t make ones to fit an Auto Art Citroen.

[Fathead59]

Ok , I ask this question in another forum and was told that I could get the answer here . Is there a way to tell what kind of compound the tire is made of , ie: rubber , urathane , silicone

[jfuente]

I'm still very new to this; however, the only silicone I know of are QuickSlix and only urethane still popular these days are PG. I believe the remainder are rubber. Though... Not sure that'd help if you get a second hand car.

[SuperSlab]

Only ways I know to try and figure it out conclusively:

1. Rubber: only one of the three that gets dissolved by naphtha (lighter fluid). Which is only useful if you HAVE lighter fluid! But if you do use rubber tyres, you WILL have lighter fluid as it is an essential aid for preparation and cleaning. A quick wipe will give you a smooth, dissolved, semi-polished look on rubber. Failing this: sanding them will NORMALLY yield black particles, but this is hard to judge on some tyres.

2. Urethane vs. silicone: only way I know is to sand the tyre. Or TRY to sand in the case of silicone! Holding a piece of sandpaper or an emery board against the edge of a silicone tyre while spinning the wheels will result in.. nothing! Doing the same with a urethane tyre will typically yield grey dust.

[docdoom]

If it a after market rubber tire such as nsr or slot it there name will be on the sidewall of the tire.

[Brad_T]

The two tires have different compounds or durometer ratings:
The XPG are softer compound, 20 shore.
PGT are a harder compound, 40 shore.
This is what I find on my latex painted 60 foot wood track. I don't have experience on the Carrera track surface.
The PGT tires seem to work better in warmer temps and take about 20 laps to get warmed up but the traction stays more consistent traction in the long run. Pre-race practice or qualifying usually gets them warm enough.
The XPG are softer and work better when it's cooler and may preferred for short run sprints if the number of laps won't warm the 40 shore enough.
You really can't go wrong with either tire, I find the shore 40 wears less quickly which I expect, similar to 1:1 tires.

[Fathead59]

Thanks Brad , but I guess I am not making it clear , how do you tell the difference since the tires are black , is there a way to find out which compound is which . Like if you have two tires sitting in front of you could you tell them apart ? And is there a way to figure it out

[Fathead59]

Ok , now I see why I am getting confused , and this is on me . There are two different post about tires . I think I better stay with one post and forget about the second one , again just want to say , my bad

[Barc 1]

Urethane tires leave a grey dust when sanded. Silicone yield nothing when sanded, and rubber kid of flecks up when sanded.

Track performance is the best indicator with respect to different types of compound in a specific group of tires. Softer compounds will give more grip, more hop and wear faster then harder tires. Once out of the package the identification process is much harder, and other then on track performance I am not sure how you can tell by just looking at them.

[Fathead59]

Ok , this is what I was looking for , so I should be able to tell the difference between the tires when I start sanding them , I will be ready when I start sanding them , a system to mark which is which . I have a bunch that are already mounted

[slothead]

That's a good question Fathead. I've used both PGT & XPG tires, but once out of the package can't tell them apart. On the oval track Maxxtrac silicone tires became the 'go-to' upgrade for 'dirt' cars and a good thing about them is they have the part number molded into the inside sidewall. I wish this was also done on PG tires, with an 'X' added for XPG's.

I find XPG tires easier to mount on wheels, but once on can't tell them apart. One type might work better on my track than the other but I can't tell them apart to measure that.

Going forward I'll use a permanent gel marker to denote XPG's when I take them out of the package.

[HomeRacingWorld]

I just use a small "dot" of red paint on the inside sidewall to indicate XGP. White for PG.

[docdoom]

Xpg tires have slight red tent to them even new.hold them up to the light and you can see the difference in the color of the two tires.