ABS Drift Tyres - adjusting grip / ground clearance on TT-01

[Mad Ax]

Just thought I'd open up the ABS drift tyre thing again, since it hasn't been mentioned for, ooh, at least a week []

I finally got my TT-01 equiped with HPI vintage wheels with the 6mm

offset for extra width.  I used some ABS drainpipe - had to go for

grey, because they had no black in the right size.  In fact I had

to use the drainpipe female-female connectors as the 50mm pipe itself

was too small, the connectors fitted on easily.  There's just

enough material in 1 connector to make 2 tyres - so cost about £3 to

make all 4 tyres.  Bargain.

Anyway, it had its first run last night - but it took me ages to find a

car park with no gravel in.  Sadly the low-profile "tyres" reduce

the ground clearance, meaning the car gets stuck on the tiniest bit of

gravel.  I haven't played with the shocks yet, but moving the

shock mounts or lengthening the stock shocks is probably the next

choice.

The second big problem was a complete lack of grip.  OK, it was

wet, but even so I found it took a huge long straight to coax the car

gently up to enough speed to get some good drifts (rather than just

donuts).  I didn't bring any electrical tape with me, but I might

give it a try next time I'm out to see if it will increase grip

slightly, just enough to get it moving.

Has anyone experimented with adding any other material around the tyre

to increase traction just a little?  I think the front-end could

use just a bit more to help it get moving, and to influence its

direction....

Ideas?  Comments?  Complaints?

[]

[DJTheo]

Well, ABS or PVC tires have very low grip, but on a good quality road and with a relatively powerfull motor acceleration is acceptable for me, does yours accelerate like mine http://www.tamiyaclub.com/moviecomment.asp...1440&uid=16 ?

You can increase forward traction also by reducing the camber angle, but guess you have the stock TT01 with fixed upper arms?

Another choice for more grip are the drift tires from Tamiya, HPI, Yokomo or Pit Shimitzu which are more from hard rubber.

Cheers

[Mad Ax]

Cool vid - don't think mine accelerates quite like that tho...  My

chassis it totally stock, with stock silvercan - I guess I could see

what happens with a bigger motor.  I'm assuming that I wouldn't

need to adjust the pinion with a bigger motor, since the whole train

isn't under much stress anyway..?

I might invest in some adjustable upper arms, although I was hoping to

enter in the stock class at the local race circuit with the same

chassis and not sure if I could be bothered with changing the upper

arms as well as the motor and wheels every other weekend []  and

I can't really afford another chassis at the moment, especially if I'm

going to go ahead with a hi-lift in Sept...

[Glitch]

Try softening your suspension as much as possible: with ABS the car needs to be set up really soft.

You have to break in ABS tyres by scuffing them up a bit on rough asphalt. The grip improves with time. If you then use the tyres on a smooth surface (eg a rc circuit or an indoor surface) you find the scuffs get "polished out" and the tyres loose their grip again.

Try cutting some grooves in the tyres (parallel to the tyre edge as in a grooved F1 tyre). I cant explain the physics of it, but i found it gives a bit more grip on slick surfaces. I think its something to do with increasing the rate of scuffing, rather than anything to do with contact area.

[fatboyslim]

I've been thinking of having a play with this drift thing and was wondering about taping my tyres, would it be best to cover the tread completely or just doing the central part leaving the edges for a bit of grip??