Control Tyres

[sldmodels]

With the recent banning of foam tyres in the Micro Nationals, I'm thinking is it time that we should have a control tyre. I'm not sure where I stand on the issue, and it does mean that we end up further down the road of a more-serious and less-fun series, but I think we're edging our way there anyway.

What do you think?

[Jonesy]

Control Tyres clearly work in 1/10th and keeps it simple for the drivers however with Rally Blocks looking like being the choice for next year I'm not sure the control tyre element would be needed in 18th, I'm sure there are different tyres out there but not sure if you need anything different!!

I'm sure a more experienced Micro Driver will let me know there are different tyres out there!

[JonMack]

In all honesty I don't think it's necessary, the majority of people run yellow rally blocks, although white are quick becoming the new favourite. Personally I prefer the look and feel of mini pins, so I run those on mine, as Jonesy said, rally blocks are so widely accepted as the tyre, I don't think control tyres are necessary.

Could make for an interesting proposal at next years EGM though

[rocketrob]

Originally Posted by sldmodels

What do you think?

1) That the whole "tire deal" hasn't been thought through, and I am wondering if about halfway through the 2010/11 season what everyone is going to do when a tire shortage hits? (rubber tires have been relatively easy to come up with when only some people are running them, but it's something else entirely when everyone is forced to)

2) That if you're doing away with foams, and more specifically 1/10th TC foams, that you should also be getting away from any other 1/10th tire/wheel combo as well. And thus, if you're going to be racing mini/micro cars to use mini/micro sized shoes on them.

[_sleigh_]

Whilst I can see the rationale for a control tyre(s) proposal (this is from experience within 1/10th);

• Racers don't have to take dozens of different tyre types to each meeting.
• No ONE racer can pull out an elite tyre and kick everyone's arse.
• Cheaper - as less tyres types needed.
• Level playing field.
• The list goes on.....

On the other hand, for Micro racers some of these points don't really apply;

• Tyre wear isn't really an issue.
• Carrying multiple tyres to a meeting, when probably only 1 set of each is required, doesn't take up much room (there smaller for a start )

As long as the tyre is commercially available (yes this is another can of worms, but common sense should apply) why not have allow a full choice of different tyres and yes some drivers might risks not having the perfect tyre. It's that a skill of the driver, having knowledge of their car and knowing the likely tyres that will/won't work on the track surface they're visiting. You'll always get some clever sod that buys a new tyre from abroad that's tenth's quicker than any other, but thats when the commercially available bit should come in. The wording for any rule on "commercially available" should left to the committee to draft and to them to enforce.


The other point i'd make and this can be seen all to often in 1/10th Nationals and some regionals, with our controlled tyre rule only allowing 2 different types (not compounds) we are now restricting ourselves from experiencing other manufacturer tyres that might come onto the market. We've seen this happen with tyres such as the GRP conespike and Ballistic Stud, both of which haven't really taken off. They both could well have benefits over and above our normal controlled tyres, but no serious National racer is going to dedicate his/her time to long term testing when it doesn't help come race day at a national. Perhaps this is simply the restriction of our section only allowing 2 types of tyre?? (that's something for a different section/thread)

I think the main point I'm trying to make is... Be careful in restricting the class(es) to much. The main pull for me to compete at Micro meetings again is the friendly, relax meetings and competitors. Too many restrictive rules could change the feel of your meetings, certainly there seems to be a underlying feeling heading that way at 1/10th Nationals.

[Chris Doughty]

I don't believe you can have a control tire in the micro series as there is no standard in the wheel sizes or even fitments.

[HarlowS]

Exactly, ! Meaning you will go and buy a nice new Blaze or Shark and you cant even run kit wheels and tyres, and i cant see it going down well telling joe blogs with his RC18 that he has to go and get wheel adaptors to run MASSIVE (in comparison to the car) wheels and tyres !!

Not a good idea (in my opinion.)

The other thought, is that you would stop development of any other tyres. Why would manufacturers develop anything if they know the micro scene cant and wont run them ?? It would be another tyre domination for Schumacher.

Originally Posted by DoughtyUK.net

I don't believe you can have a control tire in the micro series as there is no standard in the wheel sizes or even fitments.

[peetbee]

I agree with the comments regarding availability, plus the difficulty of trying to come up with a suitable one for the 1/18 class (as RC18, ZT2, etc can't run TC wheels now).

It will be interesting to see what happens of the course of the next season, but wouldn't having a control tyre require a rule change anyway?

[c0sie]

Originally Posted by peetbee

wouldn't having a control tyre require a rule change anyway?

Yes.