I thought it would be helpful to review and give my perception of the advantage of NSR tires. I'll qualify that the latest NSR Mosler set-ups are a great
starting point to get any good slot car driver in a position to compete fiercly in 1/32 no-mag scale racing. But last Thursday night I experienced more than
enough to assess that when the field of no-mag cars is set-up by experienced slotters, it's the NSR tire traction that makes the difference. Yeah,
NSR's precision gearing is untouchably sweet and the Shark and King 25K motors are great. Add to that the fact that the weight and balance is almost as
good as it gets out-of-the-box. But our set of racers in this open no-mag racing class have migrated over time to set-up for these advantages.
Now, the rules are pretty liberal in our open class.....any home racing motor, any scale accurate wheel/tire, any scale accurate body/cockpit, any home racing chassis, any weight addition, and a weight minimum of 60 grams. But I'd claim that the root of the controversy about a couple of millimeters of scale accuracy is irrelevant to the performance advantage in view of the other variables in the field that participates at Fast Lanes. That controversy has not arisen in the Fast Lanes group, but it is widely criticized internationally by those that attempt to level the playing field. Personally I think that the variables of motor, gearing, chassis layout, weight/balance, and traction are the major players. And when those features are leveled by continuous adaptation, my perception is that the traction is the difference.
I tried the NSR tires about a year ago. And I was not impressed. Out of the box they are a little better than stock rubber, but found that they run somewhat even with silicones and other soft high-grip rubber tires. No real reason to choose them over any other. Add to that the fact that all the sets of raw NSR brand tires that I have purchased so far are lumpy and irregular out of the box. But here's the deal - they mutate over time. The mutation time is weeks/months and requires chemical treatment for the mutation. The evidence of mutation is in the softness of the NSR rubber and also in the tire width and diameter. It leaves no residue that I can detect - only the tiny bits of surface rubber that wear off due to self-sanding/self-truing on the track. NSR offers the treatment product, but hey, there is not alot of chatter about it (none that I can find). Well, I'm chattering here that what is going on gives a winning advantage.
So, what I have I found out about it so far about it??? The first set I started treating in late December. Ran them before hand, treated for 5 days, ran them some more, then treated the second time for 5 days. Remember, clean them with zippo after treatment to remove any oil residue. The zippo cleaned the oil and dried the tire. I noticed a change in softness at this point (second treatment). Then ran them for lots of practice laps on Scalextric track and it trued them up super-smooth. So, I treated them again and this time I noticed a change in width - 12mm out-of-the-box changed to 14mm. Also noticed a major change in softness. Diameter increased slightly, maybe .5mm 0- good for gear clearance. At this point they shed tiny rubber bits noticeably on Carrera track, but not noticeable on Scaley track. I think that the tires are "mature" at this point and am looking for damage/deterioration to occur soon. Time will tell on that, but for now they provide a winning advantage. I have run with cars that have better features - lacking this traction advantage. And I expect to get whooped very soon.....
jethro
Now, the rules are pretty liberal in our open class.....any home racing motor, any scale accurate wheel/tire, any scale accurate body/cockpit, any home racing chassis, any weight addition, and a weight minimum of 60 grams. But I'd claim that the root of the controversy about a couple of millimeters of scale accuracy is irrelevant to the performance advantage in view of the other variables in the field that participates at Fast Lanes. That controversy has not arisen in the Fast Lanes group, but it is widely criticized internationally by those that attempt to level the playing field. Personally I think that the variables of motor, gearing, chassis layout, weight/balance, and traction are the major players. And when those features are leveled by continuous adaptation, my perception is that the traction is the difference.
I tried the NSR tires about a year ago. And I was not impressed. Out of the box they are a little better than stock rubber, but found that they run somewhat even with silicones and other soft high-grip rubber tires. No real reason to choose them over any other. Add to that the fact that all the sets of raw NSR brand tires that I have purchased so far are lumpy and irregular out of the box. But here's the deal - they mutate over time. The mutation time is weeks/months and requires chemical treatment for the mutation. The evidence of mutation is in the softness of the NSR rubber and also in the tire width and diameter. It leaves no residue that I can detect - only the tiny bits of surface rubber that wear off due to self-sanding/self-truing on the track. NSR offers the treatment product, but hey, there is not alot of chatter about it (none that I can find). Well, I'm chattering here that what is going on gives a winning advantage.
So, what I have I found out about it so far about it??? The first set I started treating in late December. Ran them before hand, treated for 5 days, ran them some more, then treated the second time for 5 days. Remember, clean them with zippo after treatment to remove any oil residue. The zippo cleaned the oil and dried the tire. I noticed a change in softness at this point (second treatment). Then ran them for lots of practice laps on Scalextric track and it trued them up super-smooth. So, I treated them again and this time I noticed a change in width - 12mm out-of-the-box changed to 14mm. Also noticed a major change in softness. Diameter increased slightly, maybe .5mm 0- good for gear clearance. At this point they shed tiny rubber bits noticeably on Carrera track, but not noticeable on Scaley track. I think that the tires are "mature" at this point and am looking for damage/deterioration to occur soon. Time will tell on that, but for now they provide a winning advantage. I have run with cars that have better features - lacking this traction advantage. And I expect to get whooped very soon.....
jethro
