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I just got back into the hobby and made the switch from Ninco to Carrera. Which tires work best on Carrera track? I mainly run, timed laps. A friend of mine stops by once in a while, and we do a little "friendly" racing, but nothing serious.

Paul Gage or Quick slicks. Try a pair of both and decide what you prefer best.

If you prefer silicones, our Quick Slicks X-Firm high-performance silicone tires work very well on Carrera track. Here's a brief summary from the 2015 Carrera N. America Championship that may be of interest.

"At the 2015 Carrera N. America National Championships hosted by GT Slots, Quick Slicks raised the bar on performance shattering the single lap and total lap count records for this event. Robert Holt set a single lap record of 6.60 seconds (Robert also held the previous record of 6.74 seconds) and a new total lap record of 347 laps (Robert's previous lap record total was 330 laps). While the single lap record is impressive, the 347 lap total was achieved by remarkably consistent lap times that averaged 3/10th second faster than the previous 330 lap mark. All previous records were set using a competitor's tires. Robert was not the only racer benefiting from Quick Slicks consistent performance as ten (10) other racers using Quick Slicks had lap totals that exceeded the previous record."

If you prefer a urethane tire, Paul Gage urethane tires are definitely the way to go.

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Thanks for the quick replies! Just to clarify, I am just as interested in learning what you're favorite tire types (silicone or urethane) are to use on Carrera, as well as brand names. I'm thinking that silicones may have an advantage over the urthenes, but then again, I could be think'n completely wrong!

See Harry's earlier post - some good advice. Try a pair of each and decide which you prefer. There's no right or wrong answer.

FYI - we carry both Paul Gage and Quick Slicks tires. Feel free to contact us (email or phone - see our website for contact info) if you'd like more information about specific tires from both of these tire manufacturers for the Carrera cars you race.

If it's casual racing,keep it simple and use stock rubber or urethane. Easy to true up. Silicoln tires last a long time but are a bit more fussy,but usually provide more grip on a clean surface. Slip on some different types of compounds and see what you like. Quick slicks, super tires or paul gauge you can't go wrong. Again,see who makes tires for your stock wheels

Paul Gage tires hook up really good on Carrera track. Glue them on the rims, true them up and go racing.

Best regards,
Brian

I ran the stock C-1 rubber tires from Slot.it on my Carrera track and they ran great compared to the stock Carrera tires. Then I tried urethane Paul Gages and they were a noticeable improvement overall. Very good, grippy. Requires very little maintenance.

At least part of your answer will depend on how you maintain your track. If your track gets dusty or dirty, you will find that silicone tires are basically useless, unless you clean them and the track frequently. If you have a track that gets dusty, urethane or rubber tires will give superior performance with much less maintenance. If you want to true your tires, urethane is significantly easier to work with than silicone.

If you are running your cars with traction magnets the tires that you use will not be as important, but you should try a variety of tires to see what works best for you. Some makes of aftermarket tires are only made to fit aluminum wheels, if you want to use those you would probably have to replace the entire rear axle assembly including the axle, gear, wheels and tires. Unless you run your cars in formal races an expensive upgrade like that may not be worth it. On a clean track silicone tires have the best grip. Dust will stick to silicone tires and once they get coated they will loose grip. The tires can be cleaned quickly by rolling them on sticky tape. No tire will give you great traction on a dusty track, but dust does not stick to urethane tires, so they will have a more consistant grip if the track is dusty. If there is a lot of dust on the track you should probably wipe it down with a Swiffer or microfiber cloth. If you run on silicone tires and keep cleaning them eventually the track will get clean enough that tire cleaning will need to be done less often.
Rubber tires have their best grip if there is a coating of rubber on the track, it has been said that silicone tires will remove the rubber and spoil your grip when you run cars with rubber tires. My club normally runs only on silicone tires, we have not had any problems running proxy cars with rubber or urethane tires, provided that we conditioned the track by doing lots of laps with the urethane or rubber tires and did not run any silicone tires until the proxy racing was finished.

WOW! Thank you all so much for the very informative responses!! You guys rawk! :text-thankyouyellow: