by BIG E » Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:42 pm
It's been my experience that the natural rubber grips better (or to my preference, at least) on a relatively clean track surface, but the synthetic rubber tires seem to last longer. This is from years of running Pro Tracks on heavy (180-200 grams) hard body cars, on 8 lane epoxy surfaced commercial road courses to the smaller club ovals with more coarse and slightly tackier surfaces. No sticky tire traction "glue" is allowed in any of these races, only tire cleaner/conditioners like that old standby "Tiger Milk", or similar products (I've been making my own for decades). Some drivers (myself not included) prefer Ronsonol lighter fluid. For example, a new set of .910 naturals will last me one Reality Modified type racing event (several hundred laps) on a 4 lane, 40 foot oval before becoming too small to pass tech. I ran two such events with the .910 synthetic tires before they really started to cone out of shape. The car ran just fine, too, and I'll be using them in the future for that application. I've also found that the synthetic tires work better on dirtier (rubbered up or tacky) track surfaces. Pro Tracks are still my go to brand whether doing the above type of racing, drag racing, or fun "recreational" cars.
Hope this helps you out. Enjoy! -- Ernie :>)
PS - Natural: soft, Synthetic: a bit more firm. But, as Harry posted (while I was typing), many feel are about the same!