by RichD » Mon Jul 14, 2014 6:49 am
I have done a great deal of testing with both urethane and silicone tires. On a clean track silicone tires have more grip. Even on a dusty track silicone tires will have more grip for a lap or two, then the urethane tires would be better. Dust sticks to silicone tires, but not to urethanes. Once silicone tires get coated with dust they will have no grip at all. If you keep cleaning the silicone tires (the quick way to do that is to roll them on sticky tape) you will pick up all of the dust from the track surface (at least where the tires roll) and further cleaning will not be necessary. Since urethane tires do not pick up dust they will not clean the track. If your track has copper tape urethane tires often pick up a copper colored coating and will loose some grip. Rolling the tires on tape will not remove the coating, it has to be washed off. A little dishwashing liquid or surface cleaner on a rag will do the trick. If you want the best results just wipe the track down with a micro fiber cloth before you run your cars. If the track has not been used for several weeks the track might be very dusty and a first pass with a Swiffer would not hurt.
It is probably better to settle on one type of tire or the other. You will not get the best performance out of either type if you keep switching back and forth. If some of your cars will still use rubber tires urethane tires would be a better choice.