Peoples thoughts on concrete/stone sections
 

Seen that the euro's track and the track in Belgium had some stone sections to them, either block paving or cobbles.

What's people's general feeling about stone/paving sections on a UK off road Astro track?

Neil.....if the section of track is in an area or corner where you have to get the power down, it will scrub tyres out very quickly so your local club members may not like that.....in fact not any of us like that.
Saying that, if placed in the right section of track then it becomes a great feature in my opinion....

I agree with Tony.
The new Bury track is all astro, and tyres last so much longer than the old track which had just a couple of paved corners.
I'll be running at Southport this weekend, and expect much worse tyre wear, and some scrapes on my chassis, thanks to their cobbled section.
That said the change of surface is quite good, so if you were going to do that I'd advise it to be a section that can be easily cut out when laying out the track so you can get the best of both worlds.

I like the idea, but then I don't like the idea of increasing tyre wear or excessive chassis scraps.

Only place I have raced with concrete / tarmac is EPR.

I've driven in black country arena in Charleroi.

They have a few tiled concrete areas to mix things up a bit. They aren't excessively long and so I'm not sure how much impact they would have on tyre wear.

Although it looks nice I would be worried if I had a nasty impact there!

Batley track has a brick laid corner, that you hit before you put the power down to go down the main straight. On most layouts you are taking it at reasonable speed or putting on the power to get down the straight. It's good to have different surfaces on the track, which is a mixture of grass and differently aged astro, as well. I do think the brick section contributes more tyre wear than if it was just grass and astro however.

I would rather see more grass tracks and banked corners,much more fun not too hard on the cars and tyres, and dare i say more skill required as the tracks change as the day goes on.

jK

We have a paved area at our outdoor track,as has been said it makes for a change of surface particularly if it`s wet-it`s like a grease pit-but it is a tyre burner and ive wrecked a couple of wings on it when ive clipped the track marker rope approaching the slabs,my X6 travelled the whole length of the slabs upside down!!!-new wing please!!Some like it and some dont,i`m pretty neutral as we dont have many obsticals and it would be pretty boring without any challenges,If your worried about tyre wear then turn gently and accelerate when your clear of them its probably the quickest way anyway........

When I'm practising alone I move the ropes to avoid the slabs as they eat tyres and ruin the Koursekings on my truck.
I drive slowly on them during racing as its easy to spin on them.

Hi,

I found at the Euros this year that the cobble section really ate the tyres.

Usually you could get away with one set of ribs in 2wd. But with the cobbles you could see the wear on the tyres after a few runs.

MiCk B. :-)

The first and only time I've seen it (so far) was on the Kampenhout track in Belgium. They had three zones of different surfaces: two corners with cobbles, and a small section with wood.

One of the cobble sections was a scary one imo: shortly after the landing zone of a jump. It isn't a very demanding jump, but every time you get it wrong you'll be praying for the shock towers not to break :(

I really liked the track though (it teaches you not to be too ambitious on jumps :lol:) and I can see how the different surfaces add to the fun and challenge of the track. Especially with the 2WDs, right after one of the cobble sections was a straight, a quick corner and another straight. Getting away quickly is essential, but taking the wrong line or being too greedy means you'll only wear your tires and lots of wheelspin.

All in all, yes, you do need to take tire wear into account, but if a low bite/grip section is put somewhere in the track it can only add to the challenge of driving there (quickly)! :thumbsup:

Multi surface tracks are good - it adds to the off road experience :thumbsup:
it works well for 8th scale as they do at Herts with no real increase in tyre wear.
If you can have a multi surface track with out a noticeable increase in tyre wear you will be on to a winner!
mind you, it doesnt need to be concrete/stone - you could experiment with kiddies outdoor 'soft play' flooring and/or interlocking garage/workshop floor tiles and/or a painted concrete for a change in surface.

The only issue with the slabs Chippy and myself drive on is that the surface is like sand paper. Take the time to choose wisely and you can have multiple surfaces without the annoyance of increased tyre wear.

I have talking to a friend about this mixed surface question, and it reminded us of the days in the early 90's when we where running a rallycross championship at the first WLRC site. From what we recall it was a lot of fun and mixed surface including mud,grass and hard surfaces. Now that could be fun to see propper rally cars blasting around?

jK