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]