How To Make RC Tires More Grippy

The grip of an RC tire is very important for different aspects of driving, whether in handling corners or getting an effective braking distance.

Taking your normal RC tires and getting more grip out of them can be helpful if you are racing a tight course with sharp turns as the closer you can make the turn the better your position will likely be. 

One way you can get a better grip on your RC tires is by using Simple Green. Simply get Simple Green, a brush, and a bucket to have water in and after you have raced, spray the tires with a lot of Simple Green and then use the brush to get the dirt off the tires. 

Next, dip the brush into the bucket of water to clean off the brush. While the brush is still dripping wet, brush the Simple Green off the tires and then towel-dry them. After that, spray a light mist on the tire as a whole and allow it to dry. If the tire is heating up quite quickly you might not have to towel dry it at all. 

Keep in mind that if you soak the tires in the bucket of water, water will get in the air holes, so don’t do that.

Something else you need to know is that there are other conditions that affect grip and can determine how much grip you get with your tires. We’ll be looking a little more at the tires and conditions affecting the grip that they have in the rest of this article.

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What You Need to Know About Grip

The best RC tires are those that deliver sustainable performance in different conditions. Owing to this, it is best to get tires that can work in different environments. When you’re talking about RC tires, you need to get a set that will work for both dry and wet conditions as well as anywhere else where you play on racing your RC car (off-road or on). 

We are going to be looking at what kinds of treads work best for getting that extra grip. Other factors, such as wear-resistance and rolling resistance, also contribute to the grip capacity of a tire. But, we’re going to be looking at the grip, as a very important aspect of driving. 

No matter which tires you end up having on your RC car the conditions you are driving in will greatly affect the grip that those tires have. 

Dry Conditions

If you’re looking to get a very good grip on dry hot pavement such as in a parking lot or skate park here are some of the main factors you need to pay attention to:

Contact area and tread rigidity

A larger surface contact area, where your tires touch the road, will allow your RC car to have a much more stable grip on the pavement. Basically the wider your tires or tread the more grip that you will get with your RC tires. 

A wider surface contact area is always better for dry conditions. Most of the time, it is easy to mount wider replacements on your RC car to make for improved grip performance on dry roads.

When it comes to dry surfaces, it’s important to have the largest possible contact surface with the ground.

Grooves

The less grooves that you have on your RC tires, the better grip you can get on the hotter pavement. Normally, about 30% of the tread should be composed of grooves. This causes larger tread blocks and has a positive impact on the driving stability of your RC car on dry roads.

Even though an RC car with no grooves delivers the most adhesion, keep in mind that these grooves have other benefits in different weather conditions and with different terrain, such as resisting aquaplaning and are, hence, still needed, although in smaller numbers.

Groove depth

In the same way, the grooves should also be shallow and smaller. We would have to admit that this, of course, has its downsides in some key areas. While shallow grooves provide huge support to the grip on dry roads, they go a long way to worsening grip performance in wet conditions, and they generally remove any resistance to hydroplaning.

Tread type

There are three major forms of treads: directional, asymmetric, and symmetric. Each of these has the capacity to offer good grip on dry roads since each type has very minimal impact.

Model

Something else that really matters is the model of the RC car. Not all vehicles can provide sufficient grip in dry conditions, so you might want to do some research and make some findings before making a choice on which RC car or RC car tires to purchase. 

Wet Conditions

If you’re looking to get a very good grip on wet pavement or grass here are some of the main factors you need to keep in mind:

Compound type

When you’re talking about grip on wet conditions, the type of compound used in the construction process of the tires matters. Those that deliver a high level of grip normally include silica in their rubber composition. Silica typically goes a very long way to reduce rolling resistance, and it also offers improved wear resistance.

Grooves and depth

While dry conditions tires with fewer grooves work better, wet conditions it is better to have a good number of deeper grooves. Normally, about 35% of the tread should consist of grooves when you are running on wet terrain. These will help to get rid of water and maintain more contact between the road and the car.

In the absence of these grooves, water would cause an intermediate layer, causing hydroplaning. 

While a smaller number of grooves means better grip in dry conditions this is the opposite when the pavement or grass is wet. You will want a good number of grooves to allow the water to spin out to help keep the RC tires in contact with the ground. 

Tread Type

A V-shaped directional tread shape is the best for getting a grip in wet conditions. Apart from providing an effective way of draining water from the tread grooves, it also provides an application of the proper distribution of pressure forces on the ground.

With larger tread widths, you can also make use of an asymmetrical tread pattern. You can trust this to be quite effective with an optimized placement of grooves, which helps to shorten the passage path for water.

In the same way, a lamellar membrane that’s densely spaced can help to distribute residual water layers on the road. The deeper the tread, the more water you can drain from under the surface of the tread. All of this helps to prevent hydroplaning and makes sure the tread can keep a decent level of contact with the surface, and this is very important to providing grip.

 Models

Again, the model matters, so you should make sure to read the reviews about each type of RC tire when buying new ones and see which tires work best for the conditions you will be driving in. 

Conclusion

Ultimately the best way to get better grip with your RC tires is to pick the right ones for the type of terrain and conditions that you will be racing or bashing in. 

Some tires work better for on road use while others are designed to handle the rigors of off road racing better. Many people actually purchase multiple sets of tires to ensure that they have the best grip possible no matter which terrain they are using their RC car on.