NEW - "Yellow Dog" Super Tires Available for Carrera Canam's

"Yellow Dog" (urethane) Super Tires (R) are now available for the very popular Carrera Canam McLaren M20 and Porsche 917/30!! Part numbers and dimensions are as follows:

• 1304Y (McLaren M20) - .809" / 20.55mm O.D., .565" / 11.53mm Wide
• 1305Y (Porsche 917/30) - .853" / 21.67mm O.D., .631" / 16.03mm Wide

For more information, please visit the Slot Car Corner website.

NEW - "Yellow Dog" Super Tires Available for Carrera Canam's

"Yellow Dog" (urethane) Super Tires (R) are now available for the very popular Carrera Canam McLaren M20 and Porsche 917/30!! Part numbers and dimensions are as follows:

• 1304Y (McLaren M20) - .809" / 20.55mm O.D., .565" / 11.53mm Wide
• 1305Y (Porsche 917/30) - .853" / 21.67mm O.D., .631" / 16.03mm Wide

For more information, please visit the Slot Car Corner website.

Slot Car Corner Message Forum

Are you a fan of Slot Car Corner's high quality parts and service? Well you now have a place to discuss that as well as get help directly from the good folks at Slot Car Corner on their new message board.

Click on over to visit and register as a user on their new message board!

Slot Car Corner Message Forum

Are you a fan of Slot Car Corner's high quality parts and service? Well you now have a place to discuss that as well as get help directly from the good folks at Slot Car Corner on their new message board.

Click on over to visit and register as a user on their new message board!

New and Improved Super Wheels!!

Super Wheels are now available in a 15x8mm format in addition to the original 17x10mm format. Both wheels now feature simulated wheel nuts based on requests from numerous customers. Other improvements - the axle fit is even "snugger" than it was before - you will need to push/twist (just slightly...) the wheel onto the recommended axle. The 17x10mm wheels are now about .5g/pair lighter than the original version without compromising the integrity of the wheel.

For a limited time, Slot Car Corner is offering a SUPER DEAL on SUPER WHEELS!! Here's how it works:Purchase two (2) pairs of Super Wheels for just $14.99 USD!! Thats almost $5.00 USD off the normal retail price!! Your choice - 2 pairs of 17x10mm's OR 2 pairs of 15x8mm's OR 1 pair each of 17x10's and 15x8's!! Offer expires Dec. 31, 2008 so don't procrastinate - these wheels are going fast!! For more information or to place an order, please click here.

Tire Test: Urethane vs. Silicone

Much discussion has been had about the relative merits of Ortmanns vs. Super Tires, or urethane tires vs. silicone tires, particularly in the US and Canada, where these two types of tires are popular. Ortmann tires have a reputation for gripping regardless of dust, while silicone tires are said to grip best on dustless track. This test was designed to measure relative track speeds of these tires in clean and dusty conditions.


All tires were run on the same car (Fly Racing Porsche GT1-98), with the same wheels (Slot.It 17x10mm). This car was selected because it is very stable, and is easy to drive consistently. Testing was done on the same lane of East New York Raceway, a 61’, wood track surfaced with interior flat latex paint. For the first test, the track was cleaned by running a car with Super Tires, cleaning the tires every few laps with a sticky label, until no more dust was picked up. As a result, the track was very clean and dust free. Tires were then tested one after the other, for 50 laps each.

The second round of testing was done several days later, after a moderate coating of atmospheric dust had accumulated. Ortmann and rubber tire cars had been run in the interim. No track or tire cleaning was done at any time for the second test. Dust was apparent, adhering to the tires, after each pair had been run.

All tires fit the Slot.It rims very well, with a flat tread. All tires were very true as run. We rounded the outer tire shoulder slightly, if it were square cornered. Each pair of tires was run for 50 laps; best lap times are shown below:

Clean track:
Super Tires Silicone 4.922 sec.
Ortmann Urethane 4.935
Slot.It S2 Silicone 4.981
Slot.It S1 Silicone 5.058
Tru Grip Urethane 5.137
Jel Claws Rubber 5.148

Moderately dusty track:
Slot.It S2 Silicone 4.977 sec.
Super Tires Silicone 4.979
Ortmann Urethane 4.987
Slot.It S1 Silicone 5.048
Tru Grip Urethane 5.176
Jel Claws Rubber 5.176

On a very clean track, the Super Tires were fastest. On a moderately dusty track, the Slot.It S2’s were slightly faster than the Super Tires and the Ortmann tires, and both Slot.It tires were slightly faster than they had been on a clean track. However, a difference of .003, or even .010 seconds may be attributable to chance, or uneven driving (an insignificant difference).

Only the Slot.It tires appeared to be unaffected by the presence or absence of dust. All the other tires were significantly slower on the dusty track. Ortmann tires were .052 sec slower, which is a significant difference. These tests show results which differ from what we expected, so expect more tests to follow!

"Yellow Dog" Super Tires tested

The new Yellow Dog Super Tires were developed as a competitor to Ortmann tires, which provide a high level of traction, and don't require frequent cleaning of the tires or the track. Yellow Dogs are evidently urethane, similar to Ortmann tires. Yellow Dogs sand more easily than the original silicone Super Tires. And when you do sand them, the dust is gray, just like Ortmanns. The tires have a nice sticky feel, and are easily slipped onto the rims of our Slot.It Nissan test car. Fit is excellent. They are very true, and have the same sharp edges we find on the original Super Tires, but now it is easy to sand them off. And be not afraid, the production tires are to be black. The bright orange tires are only for test purposes. We hope.

To begin the testing, a quick 66 laps with original Super Tires was done with the Nissan test mule. The fastest lap turned was 4.652 sec, no magnets, on East New York Raceway. Of course, the usual track and tire cleaning was done prior to starting the laps. The YD's go on, 66 more laps are done, and we get a best lap time of 4.835, which is significantly slower in a head-to-head test against the original ST's. This difference may be specific to this track.

Next we move to an outer lane that we're sure is quite dirty. YD's are the first tire we use, and we get a best time of 5.211. Yes, the track is dirty. Next we go to the Ortmann scrap heap to find 2 round-enough tires to use in the still dirty lane. A set of tires is matched, and we get a best lap time of 5.178, just a bit faster, but not by much. A tie is declared between Ortmanns and Super Tire Yellow Dogs.

Lap times don't tell the whole story. For a fast car using Ortmanns, you need to do lots of work truing them. The Orts we used are "seasoned" tires with tons of laps, and lots of work done to them to get them close to round. The Yellow Dog Super Tires were just profiled a bit around the shoulders, and away we went. The quality that goes into the original Super Tires is clearly seen again. If you're in need of non-silicone tires that will perform well on wood or plastitrack, or if you're building a proxy racing car that will be raced on a variety of tracks (some dusty) you need to check these out.

Above you can see the tire dust created after we did a bit of profiling.

Conclusion? Not as fast as original Super Tires on very clean, latex painted wood; about as fast as Ortmanns on a dusty lane of the same track. Far easier to sand the tire shoulders than original Super Tires, and way more concentric than Ortmanns. Yellow Dog Super Tires are highly recommended.

Thanks to Nick at Super Tires for the tire samples. Testing will continue with these tires, on a variety of cars. It looks like the whole Super Tires range is being duplicated in the new material. We will update with more testing data, and we will be updating with more brands of tires for comparison.

Dave Kennedy and Robert Livingston of Slot Car News

SuperTires quick look

Nick from SuperTires was gracious enough to send SCNews a few sets of his fine silicone tires. These tires are very familiar to many slotters in the US but maybe not to some around the world.

From the SuperTires website:

"Tear up the competition not your tires"
-Aerospace state of the art material.
-Made in the U.S.A.
-10 times the tear factor of other rear racing tires.
-Different profiles allow for minimum air gap under the car chassis, for maximum performance in turns.
-Different sizes, colors, and compounds designed to fit your cars needs.
-Satisfaction Guaranteed..

A number of questions have come up recently on the various message boards about which type of SuperTires fit the new SCX Nascars. The #1008 seem to have just about the perfect combination of sidewall height and tread width. In testing these tires slipped on well and really improved the performance over stock tires on our various wood tracks (painted with flat latex paint).


Compaired with the stock tires that come on the Slot It Lancia "Malardeaux", the larger diameter #1404 fill out the wheel well better than the lower profile tires. This car should have very large diameter wheels on the back, so putting large diameter tires somehow feels appropriate...even if it's not technically correct.

The tires are just a bit narrower than the stock tires but because of that allow much easier access to the set screw on the wheel.

To get the best from these tires you need a clean track...a really clean track. In extensive testing they work best after the track has been wiped down and then for the first laps around the track use the adhesive side of a mailing label to clean the tires.

Until very recently I've used Ortmann tires exclusively on almost every car I have. These tires, for many applications are superior. They have more predictable break-away characteristics and are as round as you'd want any tire to be ever! They're so concentric in fact, you might find out that those metal wheels you thought were round are now just a bit more wobbly than you might want to believe.

At this link you can find where they're distributed.

DaveK