Why do 8th cars run fat front wheels ?

[andys]

Wondered this for a while, why do 10th scale off road run narrow wheels on the front, but 8 th scale run the same width all round ?

I remember from my early 10th scale off road racing days, people tried running wide wheels all round, but it was rubbish !

Surely 8th scale would benefit from slimmer front wheels ?

Also roll bars seem standard on an 8th car, but they are not run so much on 10th, especially front roll bars - why's that then ?

[Chris Doughty]

I think its more like thinner rear wheels on an 8th car than wide front wheels.

after a good few years running 8th scale, you can feel the weight of the car quite a bit, cars feel like they have a lot of momentum, jumping, turning, braking.

rollbars in 8th scale keep the car from transfering all its weight to the outside, without rollbars an 8th car would roll around quite a bit. this is more apparent when the grip is high.

thinner rear tires also help the car rotate in the tighter corners, 8th scale cars feel a lot less on rails than the lightweight 10th scale cars, even when grip is high.

8th scale cars also don't 'snap' deliver the power, they have a smoother torque curve and also a centre diff, both of these negate the need for big wide rear tires

[andys]

Cheers for the reply Chris, interesting stuff.

I felt the 'weight' straight away coming from 10th racing, I'm hoping the Durango feels more nimble than my RC8B. Would look better with thinner front wheels though !

[Chris Doughty]

I think 8th scale cars look great with dirt tires on them, not so good with Astro tires like angle spikes or schum minispikes though.

and I agree, aesthetically, a slightly narrower front and slightly wider rear would make them look better

but a big positive for the 8th scale class is universal wheel fitment and standard front/rear wheel size, it allows companies to make tires for front and rear with the same moulds. in 10th scale theyd need to make a rear, 4WD front and 2WD front to make a 'new' tyre type.

this is probably the reason the 8th scale market has a billion tire brands and tyre patterns to choose from.

[showtime]

if you're really hung up on the tyres sizes front & rear you could run Proline V3 on the rear which are a wider wheel & tyre. not available in all tread patterns but there might be something you like




tbh i can remember thinking that the tenth buggys had ridiculously oversized rear tyres when i started using them but then i came from 8th so i guess it works both ways
they are almost "cartoon" oversized though aren't they?

[steelie600]

tenths are a bit mickey mouse aye!!

8th is the Premier class and should not be doubted!!

[awaits the flaming]

[big p]

yeah, what he said ^^^^^^^^^

[MALLET]

And I second that ^^^^^^^^

[SHY]

Check out also VP Pro:

http://www.redrc.net/2008/08/vp-pro-...re/#more-11121

Chris, so the 1:8 cars wouldn't be faster with wider rear tires?

How's your regulations as to max width? We had no limit in Norway, so we sat a limit when VP Pro came out with these. Too keep it simple for all drivers and keep the current tires/wheels.

My guess still is that it would be an improvement as to performance...

[chalky]

just before you go cutting your tyres to make narrow front ones its against brca rules for racing

[showtime]

you can't use the skinnys at Nationals but you can use them at clubbys

SHY, somebody a lot better than me said he didn't like the V3 tyres as "they made the car slower to change direction & made it push a bit"
he's a directly supported driver & if they were faster he'd use them

[SHY]

OK, I won't argue against that!

Looks way better though! Less off a "bicycle look"! Maybe easier on the poor surface also? Those things dig like a dog looking for a bone!

[jamiekerr14]

when I did some testing with V3's in the rear.

Pro's:
Longer tire life
Makes rear more stable under power
Better on bumpy tracks
Tames down the rear

Neg's:
Less nimble
Handling changes from standard
more £

I have only ever seen 1 or 2 people use them.. I have tested with them and raced them. My local track can sometimes be bumpy, so they work ok but generally they just slow the steering down ect.. there not very popular at all

[dodgydiy]

back in the days of the old mugen athlete and earlier 1/8 had wider rears than fronts, people started running fronts all round and used to say the cars drove better. i still have one set of the old tyres to put back on my mugen when i finally get round to restoring it!