Dirt track racing

[red5]

I have just recently run on a dirt track with a cat3000 set up for grass, It was not a nice experience with the grip levels so low. It is a new track and no where near a blue line. I ran short shocks on front with mediums on rear, I will be returning to mediums on front and long on rear as it has many jumps, looking at adding tds to have some slip on the rear to stop snaking on power out from corners. I spoke the man at Northampton and he suggested adding the 3 degrees of inboard toe in on the rear and looking at the manual anti sqat may help? so many things to try but tyres is my main frustration, I tried minispikes blues and yellows all round, studs on front, slim spikes on front and only the minispikes yellow all round seemed to work a bit the only thing I did not try was minipins!! Has anybody tried these on a dirt track? I will be next time as well as Ballistic buggy! and even Lossi silvers if I can afford them.....Dirt after grass is a big jump but very challenging but with so little time to try differant things I am worried about trying so many changes so any info would be truely grafefully recieved....I ran 25w shock oil in rears and 35w in front shocks which did not seem to work with blue springs up front and greys on rear, looking at the kit standard yellows for dirt. So much to do :P ???, nice to se a schuey forum :) cheers Ian

[MattW]

I would suggest that you look at what tyres the locals are running. The blue and Yellow mini spikes would not work all that well on dirt.

[Trevor]

I'm not sure what kind of dirt you are running on so I'll offer a couple of general suggestions. If you can give me some more info about the track surface I'll give you some more detailed (tailored) advice.

For tires (tyres):

Clay surface hard packed:
No Dust/moist track:
Try using Losi Pink Taper Pins both front and rear. Take the foam that came with the front tires and put them somewhere safe (in case you ever need them for foam and a thirds). Then take the stock Losi rear foam, that came with the rear Taper Pins, and stuff it into the front tires. Use Trinity Grey foams in the rear Taper Pins.

Dusty Surface:
If the track has a slight layer of loose "dust like" dirt covering it , you have two basic options. First try M3 Pro-Line Holeshots front and rear. As with the Taper Pins use a rear foam in the front tires and a Trinity Grey foam in the rear tires. You could also use Losi Pink Front Blockheads with Pink Losi X-2000 rear ties, again using the rear foam in the front and a Trinity Grey in the rear.

Broken Dirt(Fluff):
Broken Dirt - Dry Surface:
Use Losi Ifmar Studs in the front and rear. I would use Silver, but that's just my choice, Red would give you a little bit more traction but would wear out quicker. In this case use the foams that came with the tires do not put rear foams in the front.

Broken Dirt - Moist Surface:
If the track is packed try running Losi Ifmar Pins, Silver compound, both front and rear. Use the foams that came with the tires.


As Matt W said it always helps to check out what other people are running for tires.

Trevor

[red5]

Thanks Trevor for your info, I have been driving the dirt track and had 3 sessions trying now and been able to dial in the set up and try tyres. Ballistic buggy spikes have been good and even schu 2wd spikes on front when tacky/wet. When damp dust/dry dust I have tried schu mini pins silver on rear, and proline hole shots all round. I loved the hole shots and even better with hole shots front with schu silver blocks on rear! Its a massive learning curve but lap times are coming down and less crashes so something is working ::) dirt changes so much during day with temp/buggy running its going to take a few more attempts but its great fun, thanks again....Ian

[Trevor]

Glad to hear your getting things sorted out. I've also found that trying different tires at different times is the best way to get it right.

Good luck racing,

Trevor