K&D Model Racing High-Grip Rubbe

	K&D Model Racing High-Grip Rubber Tire Review by Vince Laurent September 19, 2007 Updated later that same day...
		I ordered a set of tires after a good review on Home Racing World. They weren't too expensive and the turn around from order to arrive was quick. They came in a little zip lock with a label stapled to the top. The tire description, in this case, H&R chassis rear tire, was hand-written on the label.

		I grabbed a set of dried up Pro-Track rear tires for these new ones to replace. The K&D tires have a flat since and a somewhat rounded side. I figured the flat side was going to go on the inside so I wasn't concerned at all about appearance. The K&D tires were very flexible. They almost felt like sponge tires.

		I took the ProTrack tire off and made sure there was no tire remaining on the rim. I wanted to make sure there was good contact between the tire and rim.

		The tire went on east enough. I did put a few drops of super glue to hold the tire to the rim as recommended by Kevin.

		Here is the ProTrack chassis I used. I pulled one that I ran during our NASTruck season. I ran it again for about 100 laps and recorded the times.

		I then mounted the new tires. I had to add spacers to get them as wide as the ProTrack tires were. They were about the same thickness so the chassis was about the same height off of the ground. I ran this for about 175 laps.

		Disclaimer: I am NOT the best driver in the club. I am consistent enough I feel to compare things side by side. With that said, unfortunately, the K&D tires would just not hook up. I could hear the tires spinning on the chassis/track. I even sanded them a few times and ran them again and again. What finally got them to grab was a TON of weight.

		So I put the ProTrack tires back on and ran the TON of weight again. The ProTrack tires ran about the same as before, maybe slightly less. Overall, I ran the K&D tires and the Protrack tires for nearly 300 laps each. The best time I could get on the ProTracks was 2.85sec. The best I could get using the K&D tires (with weight!) was 3.12 sec. The K&D just could not grab the track like the sponge tires.

		I ran all the tests using the same lane, orange. I used lighter fluid to clean the tires AND the track area.

		Here is a shot of the entire track. With the sponge tires I could go deeper into the turns and not have the chassis swing all over.

		Conclusion: I think these tires will like a MUCH cleaner track or a plastic track. I am going to take the chassis this weekend and try it on an Artin Oval. I have high hopes for these tires as they won't dry out like the ProTracks. If I could just get them to grip. If anyone reading this has suggestions PLEASE drop me a line at mgpmrc 'at' mgpmrc.org.

Update!!		So I get home and check my e-mail. it is from Kevin. He suggests to sand the tires. He doesn't say how much so I decide to do a bit of experimentation. He also mentioned he might look into a sticker compound. So...I sand it
		and clean it and run it...
		And sand it and clean it and run it...
		And sand it and clean it and run it...
		OK. A bit faster. Down from a 3.12 to 2.946. You can also see I did put a few laps in.. 370 to be exact. Thank goodness my daughter came down to read the lap times off to me as well as marshal the far corner.
		Alas, it was for naught. I managed a 2.797 in under 100 laps with the sponge tires. Overall both were close. The K&D were about 3.0something while the sponge were 2.9something. I will e-mail this update to Kevin and see what he has to day.