User Manual

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Tire selection guide -
Tire selection should be based on track conditions and will greatly affect your car’s performance. In general,
tires with large spikes should be chosen for tracks with loamy, fluffy, or wet dirt. Soft compound tires with
small pins should be used for hard-packed, dusty, or slick tracks. Hard-packed, high-bite, abrasive (blue
groove) tracks require tires with small pins and a slightly harder compound. Front tire selection and wear can
dramatically affect steering and performance on hard-packed tracks.
Check driver setup sheets for recommended tires before attending large events. Always be prepared for
changing surfaces and conditions with your tires. Typically, most handling problems can be tracked to worn-
out or the wrong tires.
Although it is impossible to classify every track type and surface, the following guide can be used to give you
some direction and help in tire selection. Most tracks have either hard or soft surfaces and one or more of
the various conditions noted.
Soft surfaces:
Sand/Soil: Loose sand or topsoil covers part of the surface.
Loamy: Wet, loose dirt covers most of the surface.
Ruts: Potholes and wavy sections develop.
Wet: Condition where the surface has moisture in it.
Dry: Dry, loose dirt covers most of the surface.
Hard surfaces:
Wet: Condition where the surface has moisture on it or in it.
Hard Slick: Surface packs but does not take rubber. Usually dry looking.
Abrasive: Natural abrasion also accelerates wear.
Blue Groove: Rubber has been laid down creating a dark groove. Usually has some dust on it.
Black Groove: Heavy amounts of rubber have been laid down. Usually has minimal dust.
Broken: Holes, ridges, or scaling of the track.
Tire construction:
The combination of the tread/carcass design and the rubber compound strongly affect how well tires work on
different track conditions. The construction/tread affects the way the tire reacts to directional loading and
how it presents the compound to the track surface. The compound affects the way a tire handles surface
irregularities, as well as the friction or bite as it contacts the surface.
JConcepts Tire Compound Key:
Yellow = Medium – all conditions
White = Medium – groove condtions
Blue = Soft – all conditions
Gold = Indoor Soft – indoor conditions
Green = Super Soft – all conditions
How to read the tire guide:
Tire Grading: A = Excellent B = Good C = Fair ( - ) either not recommended or available in that compound
Looking at the chart for 3008 Goose Bumps, for Ruts from left to right; it is rated A in Yellow compound and
B in Blue compound. It is either not recommended or available in White, Orange or Green compound.
If a tire pattern has five ( ----- ) under a surface, it is not recommended for that surface in any compound.