Why no off road Tarmac tracks?

[Nick Goodall]

With the whole Moto-Arena thing up for debate, i just wondered why nobody has ever built a Tarmac off road track??

I'm not talking about a T/C track with some jumps, but a track that's smooth flowing, with banked corners, tabletops, whoop sections etc...

If you think about it, you could run Proline Dirt Hawgs or whatever they're called, they'd last absolutely ages, you could run in all weather conditions as long as the drainage is designed properly like roads so the water runs off the edge.....

You could then just make some shock top protectors to allow the cars to "skid" if they landed upside down, rather then snapping things or ruining shocks.

When Lee's CML Raceway was first built the whole track was actually Tarmacced before Astro was laid over the top - We drove on it a couple of times with the wrong tyres but it was still good fun, and even then i think we talked about the idea.....

It would basically be no different to a proper hard packed dirt track, similar grip levels, it would blue groove nicely in the sun and provide an awesome surface in my opinion.... especially as you could run in the wet with no issues!!

What do you think?? Even Concrete would work just as well surely!??

Think of a hard packed dirt track - they may as well be concrete!

Supermoto tracks are pretty much EXACTLY what i'm thinking of, you could even have an Astro / Dirt infield that you could run if the weather was good

Awesome couple of vids here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEcxHSncg08

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=AfbD...eature=related

[Smartalec]

Last night running at the Moto Arena for 3 hours I ran a set of foams trued to Losi wheels that were excellent and lasted really well (and they were trued up to look like full sized buggy tyres and not make the car look cack) and I also ran a set of used Ballistic Buggy Greens which got better as the spikes wore off. These would easily last a whole meeting if not two before they were destroyed and you could obviously use tyres that were past their best that you'd normally be acetoning. The important thing would be any jumps would have to have a really long landing ramp as landing on the tarmac is a big car breaker

[The Pookster]

Late 80s or early 90s, can't quite remember, Medway Off Road Club tarmacked over the clay (cos it was all bumpy and pitted) the day before a national, bit of surprise turning up on the Sunday. Wasn't very nice really, tyres didn't last too long.

[tsan]

We sometimes run tarmac buggy at our local parking lot races. (called the 'FastCats Depot')
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv2Iri1CmDE
Unfortunately this isn't a dedicated offroad track... it`s an onroad track us offroaders run on just to get our buggy fix. That explains the dinky little jumps.
The best tires by far to run are worn down dirt tires (hole shots, bar codes, block heads etc) with something like Buggy Grip applied to the tires. While dirt hawgs last longer than the offroad tires, the traction sucks by comparison. An old set of hole shots might last you a few weeks of racing. None of us bought any tires, we just used tires that were too worn out to use on dirt any more.
Also, the track is blown off with a tennis court blower, then sprayed with sugar water to make the traction extra good.
A track with proper jumps, like the one`s shown above, would be awesome!

[Chris Doughty]

Nick, I've had this idea in the back of my mind for years!

if you think about it, what everyone loves is a super blue-groved dirt track, feels like racing on off-road tarmac...

why not skip the prep and the time take for the track to 'rubber in'

I agree with you! (as always it seems)

[Lee Martin]

maybe ill take the astro off??????????????????????????????????????????????? ????

[mattybucks]

Originally Posted by pidge

maybe ill take the astro off??????????????????????????????????????????????? ????

Do it!!!

[Nick Goodall]

Originally Posted by pidge

maybe ill take the astro off??????????????????????????????????????????????? ????

Let's do it - Maybe i could even get a car to race then as it's so close to home, i could even bring Imogen out for the day

Chris, it's just great minds and all that you see ;-)

I was watching the Supermoto a while ago and thought if it works for them, there's no reason we couldn't do it in off road..... Especially with some simple thick lexan covers over the top of the shocks - Like a mini front and rear wing that protects them??

Either slick Proline Dirt hawgs, or worn out Holeshots & ribs - The cars would be awesome, (even in the wet too)!

[Nick Goodall]

Originally Posted by pidge

maybe ill take the astro off??????????????????????????????????????????????? ????

If you think about it, CML Raceway could literally be Re-Born, as the first UK Off Road Tarmac track, and all it involves is removing stuff - SIMPLES

If we could just modify the infield a tad, we could have options for adjusting the layout too, maybe use the Astro to cover the rest of the infield so the main track is Tarmac, with the option to run onto Astro

[Lee Martin]

im up for it..... saturday?

[Nick Goodall]

Originally Posted by pidge

im up for it..... saturday?

I can't do Saturday as i've already got plans, and i'm away all next week (Back for your big day)

We can definitely do it over the winter though, how easy do you reckon that Astro will pull up?

[ApexSpeed]

The reason no one has ever done it in R/C is simply cost. The expense for asphalt is really high, and unless you can use a track like this for something else, there is no chance anyone drops the cash to lay that tarmac down that isn't smooth enough to park on it.

Not to mention that R/C racers today are resistant to any track that doesn't change from week to week, and you'd be building a relatively permanent layout.




I love the idea, though.

[Tom3012]

Sounds like a cool idea, but then thats making it less and less "off road" ?

[GRIFF55]

I bloody love that idea guys!!! (when can i collect the astro then lee!! lol)

I foten drive my car in our yard on the tarmac and the grip is amazing. A full on track would be superb!!

[Mash Potato]

I can see the benefits, and would be more than willing to try it out.

Not trying to be negative but one thing that occurs is the potential for more damage, thus cost. Touring cars are all nicely covered up by their shell. Roll a touring car and the shell protects everything else. Where as buggies have suspension components etc all outside the shell. If you've even rolled a buggy on tarmac at speed the effect is like attacking it with a sander. Shocks, towers, body shell etc can and are likely to all be ruined in just one roll.

Just my input, but you don't get that on a dirt, astro or carpet track.

[pugboy]

Great idea, would probably cost more than astro to construct initially but would be zero maintenance once it was done. Some drainage gullies could even be built in in discreet areas so that it would be truly all weather (maybe I'm getting a little carried away). If jump landings were a concern, maybe even some sections of that rubberised stuff like you get in kiddies playgrounds.

[Nick Goodall]

Originally Posted by Digital

I can see the benefits, and would be more than willing to try it out.

Not trying to be negative but one thing that occurs is the potential for more damage, thus cost. Touring cars are all nicely covered up by their shell. Roll a touring car and the shell protects everything else. Where as buggies have suspension components etc all outside the shell. If you've even rolled a buggy on tarmac at speed the effect is like attacking it with a sander. Shocks, towers, body shell etc can and are likely to all be ruined in just one roll.

Just my input, but you don't get that on a dirt, astro or carpet track.

That's why i put:

You could then just make some shock top protectors to allow the cars to "skid" if they landed upside down, rather then snapping things or ruining shocks.

[GRIFF55]

OR, run rallycross shells like back in the day!!

[Chris Doughty]

Originally Posted by Digital

I can see the benefits, and would be more than willing to try it out.

Not trying to be negative but one thing that occurs is the potential for more damage, thus cost. Touring cars are all nicely covered up by their shell. Roll a touring car and the shell protects everything else. Where as buggies have suspension components etc all outside the shell. If you've even rolled a buggy on tarmac at speed the effect is like attacking it with a sander. Shocks, towers, body shell etc can and are likely to all be ruined in just one roll.

Just my input, but you don't get that on a dirt, astro or carpet track.

I've snapped countless shock towers where it has 'dug in' on grass or astro, that wouldn't happen so its swings and round-abouts.

and as Nick said, if your worried, some lexan 'knee sliders' could be made-up

[Mash Potato]

Originally Posted by Nick Goodall

That's why i put:

You could then just make some shock top protectors to allow the cars to "skid" if they landed upside down, rather then snapping things or ruining shocks.

Ah yes missed that.