Choosing Tires for your RC Racing Vehicle

One of the most important components of any racing vehicle is the tires. They say never to skimp on things that come between you and the ground – mattresses, shoes and tires. Watch any professional race and you’ll be able to observe how the tires are a critical part of the car’s performance – from the slick tires which provide maximum traction and ultimate speed to NASCAR and Formula 1 racers; to the rugged tires employed by dirt racing champs to conquer their terrain. When it comes to your RC racing vehicle, the right tires are the difference between first and last. Here’s a brief overview of choosing the right RC tires for your machine .

Understanding Tire Surfaces

There are hundreds of tire patterns out there to help with everything from wet track racing to clawing up gravel, but in general, tires are either smooth – having a relatively flat surface with lots of surface area hitting the ground – or ‘nubby’ – lots of points of protrusion which help it dig into the ground. The general idea is that the smoother tires are going to provide a greater contact patch, providing  more traction  and control, especially on hard packed  smooth surfaces. The ‘nubby’ tires are going to allow you control on Loamy dirt and gravel and are not recommended  for flat hard packed surfaces.

There are dozens of variations on each type of tire. For example, some smooth tires closely resemble the tires on your car – allowing them to control moisture and have control in wet environments – while other tires have very small blocks or studs on their surfaces. For knobby/nubby tires, there’s plenty of variation in the size of the nubs – some are minimized to promote better speed, while others have very thick nubs to promote digging into the dirt. There’s no right or wrong, just a matter of what environment you’re racing it.

Wheels and Inserts

RC tires don’t exist in a vacuum – the wheel and insert play a huge part in your racing performance. First is the wheel – available mostly in plastic based on your car or trucks  dimensions and wheel offsets.  It is recommended you stick with wheels  made specifically for your vehicle to stay with in legal racing widths and size. Inserts are foam which is placed in between the tire and wheel – stiffer foam means a firmer ride, and softer foam is going to give you a softer more flexible ride. Think of it like putting air in you cars tires, racing teams are always looking for just the right tire pressure for the best performance, in general, you will want a firmer insert on smooth hard surfaces and a softer insert on rough terrain. No matter which you choose, keep in mind the size of the kit – most tires and wheels are either 1/8 or 1/10 scale, so make sure you choose the right size for your vehicle and select matching tires/wheels.

Tire Compounds

Tire compounds have become just as crucial  as tread design for proper tire selection .  Compounds range from  hard to super soft  and everything in between.  Many tire manufactures  list their compounds by color, name or both in designating the firmness. For Example, JConcepts list their GOLD compound as soft made for indoor clay tracks and Proline Racing’s M3 compound is rated as soft and marks their tires with a green dot and is recommended for outdoor tracks 70 degrees to 90 degrees.  So the bottom line is, when selecting tires for racing, check the description of the compound if you’re not sure what it means, contact us, we are more than happy to help.

Ask Questions

So how do you determine the right tires for your RC car? Honestly, it’s trial and error. There are so many options available that it’s hard to pick just one – but a good idea is to engage your friends and community. Ask the guys who are winning races or a car that is similar to yours about what tires they work with. Use that as a baseline on where to start – maybe purchase those tires and wheels or similar models, and then some different tire types to play around with off of the track. After a few races, you’ll have more feedback and be able to narrow your selections before choosing the perfect tire for your needs.

No matter what your RC parts needs, LA Parts House delivers with free shipping on orders over $50 and same day shipping on orders placed before 2 p.m. PST Monday through Friday. Visit us today for RC racing tires, shocks, full kits and more!