Slot Car Illustrated, The Online Magazine for Slot Cars! - Misc. Products

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Published: January 27, 2003

Let me start this by saying that I enjoy scale racing, scale appearance, and getting the most from out of the box cars with minimal modification. I enjoy racing on stock tires, for the most part, and am happy to race on the rubber that comes with a car... usually. But as I race more, I find that those stock tires do wear out, and need replaced. Sometimes, getting stock replacement parts is not easy, sometimes impossible. With the brief experience I've had with silicone tires, I wasn't happy with the feel and "ride" that I got with "Sillies".

When Steve of Prospect Park Raceway asked if I wanted to try his Super Tires, I was excited to give them a shot, but skeptical.

I received several sizes to try, as well as a set of rims made of Delerin plastic. The tires themselves are very generic, unsculpted looking. They are not of scale appearance to any degree. For a scale buff like me, this is a negative right off the bat. However, I was willing to give them a run for their money, since they aren't advertised as being a stock, or scale replacement tire. These are racing wheels. We would see. I slipped a set designed for the FLY Classics onto a FLY Porsche 908. This car's tires had split, and were in desperate need of tire replacement anyway.

This old 908, with the new Super Tires, gained a new life on my track. My first impressions of these tires was that they were very, very smooth, and very sticky. They were nothing like the silicone tires I'd been exposed to previously, maintaining the stock feel, but holding the car to the track to it's limits. This old 908 became the fastest 908 in my stable, and no other FLY Classic can keep up with it, not even my fastest 908 with trued, stock tires.

My attention turned to a car that I really wanted to love, but the more I ran it, the more frustrated I became. The Ninco BMW V12 started out as a great car in my book, but it developed what I call the Ninco Hop. This is where the rear wheels break free from the track, and not only spin, but spin and grab, spin and grab, resulting in a hopping action that is truly annoying. I stretched a set of Super Tires on my BMW, and put it to the test.

Not only did the Ninco BMW V12 perform extremely well with the new tires, the Ninco Hop was gone. The car just hooked up and took off. It cornered more like a rear magnet FLY or Scalextric than a front magnet, overpowered Ninco. These tires are definitely racing tires for racing cars. The Ninco BMW is again a favorite racer in my stable!

But one test still remained. How would the tires perform on a magnetless car? On my 2WD SCX Rally car, I pushed on the supplied rims, and matching tires. The rims fit snuggly, and made a suitable replacement rim if you're looking for something different. Again, they are not stock or scale replacements, but not everyone is like me, nor as picky. The rims were without flaws or need of trimming. Right out of the bag they were ready to go, save for painting or inserts.

What I found was that with the Super Tires, the SCX car hooked up like a car with a mild magnet. My lap times for this car were cut in half! This car took on a whole new character, and is a great performer. I'll note that this car is weighted just a bit, tuned for best performance with stock tires. With the Super Tires on this car, there is no going back to stock. But then I started to get curious... If the Super Tires were this good on a car I intended to run without magnet, how would they do on my BMW or 908 without magnets?

I couldn't believe what I was experiencing! The Ninco with Super Tires, no magnet and a little weight added was every bit as fast as the Scalextric Cadillac LMP in stock trim, and could even keep up with the FLY Classics. No magnet! I kid you not! The 908, with only the magnet removed and no weight added was also very fast, though not as fast as the stock set-up. Remember, this is without weight added. Super Tires has added a whole new meaning for me to non-magnet racing. I would have never thought that a non-magnet car could perform like one with a magnet. For a real thrill, there is nothing like it.

The Super Tires also come in day glow colors, though this isn't my cup of tea. Something for everyone, I guess, and this is good. Getting past the not-so-scale appearance of the PPRSlots Super Tires, you'll find that these tires are absolutely awesome. They stick like nobodies business. They have changed

my feelings on aftermarket wheels. I don't currently have a set of silicones to make a comparison, but I do like the Super Tires far better. I tested these on Carrera track, and I think if you're looking for tires to hook-up on a smooth surface, the Super Tires are the way to go.

I'd like to thank Steve Z at PPRSlots for providing these samples for review. I highly recommend that you get some to test yourself!

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