This article was written by Adam Light, an SC10 owner and TeamSC10.com reader. Guest submissions can be sent to contact@teamsc10.com.
It is that time of year again. Christmas music is already playing in the stores and at any time, snow could blanket the ground (or possibly already has depending on where you live). Unfortunately, with the snow covering the ground, it is also covering the track leaving many RC enthusiasts with one option - an indoor track!
On an indoor track, there are a few different track surfaces, but most are either dirt or carpet. Some exceptions are Astroturf and slick polished floors. Over the next few articles, I will be concentrating on setups for your SC10 on an indoor carpet track. Believe it or not, there is a lot more to it than you think.
Let's talk about tires first. Tires are roughly 90% of the setup and if you get those wrong then you will have a miserable day no matter what you do to the rest of truck.
When I first started checking out my local carpet short course scene, every truck seemed to rotate the same way through the corner. It would slide the rear under braking into the corner, then push through the center, and slide the rear while exiting. It worked for some trucks, but for the most part, it appeared the trucks were tough to drive and did not accelerate very well. A closer look revealed their tires were almost bald dirt-track tires. I understand using old dirt tires when moving indoors, but if you really want to "plant the rear and make it steer", you will need to invest in some tires that match the indoor surface.
As always when looking for new tires, ask other racers in your class or the employees at your LHS. They will give you a few options of what works best on the surface for your particular racing class.
In general, a medium or soft mini pin tire works extremely well on carpet. Schumacher's yellow mini pin has been used by many with great results on carpet. dBoots has came onto the scene too with a tire that's very competitive called the Terrabyte. I've had the pleasure of running these with great results. The company is based in Great Britain and many of their tracks are going to carpet, even outdoors, so their drivers have plenty of testing on these surfaces. Proline had also recently came out with their Pinpoint tires. They feature a pointed mini pin to dig down deep into the carpet and provide the traction needed.
No matter what tire you choose, always remember the tricks of trimming tires still applies. Remove the outside row or two of pins to let the tire slide a little more on high bite tracks. The stock SC10 tires are also a great choice depending on track conditions, and can be modified, which I will demonstrate in an upcoming article.
Hopefully these tips will help with you conquer indoor carpet racing. Stay tuned for more tips on indoor racing. Upcoming topics will be bodies and suspension, but if you have a topic suggestion, post it in the comments section. Also, feel free to ask any questions in the comments section and I will answer as many as I can.