Choosing the Right On-Road RC Tires and Wheels

You're at the perfect place whether you want to replace your on-road tyres, install street-friendly rubber on your off-road vehicle, or select a pair of sneakers for your competition touring vehicle. This article covers everything you need to know about on-road RC tyres and wheels in detail.

Before We Begin

Read Choosing the Right Off-Road Wheels & Tires before we discuss RC on-road tyre and wheel styles. The sections on what wheel size means, how to choose wheels that fit, and the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing pre-mounted tyres as opposed to separate RC tyres and wheels to glue yourself cover the topic of choosing on-road RC tyres and wheels for your on-road machine.

Touring Car Tires

Since 1/10 scale touring cars are the largest category for on-road tyres, you're likely reading this article in search of information. Since all brands utilize wheels with a 12mm hex, fitting wheels on touring cars is simple. Additionally, any wheel offered for competition shall have the 24mm width and 50mm diameter maximums required by ROAR regulations. Wheels are, therefore, simple if you're racing in the 1/10 touring car class; if not, you'll additionally need to think about tyre and wheel offset as well as wheel width. Let's get started.

Wheel Width

Wheels for 1/10 scale touring cars are typically 24 or 26 mm wide, and almost all tourers can easily accommodate either size. Some models may have considerably wider tyres or even front and rear tyres of varying widths, particularly those made for maximum realism. Wider tyres provide a more significant "footprint" and, therefore, more grip, putting style and realism aside. Consider going wider rather than softer if you want a better grip without the added wear of a soft compound tyre. As previously stated, a tourer should have no issue accepting 24 or 26-mm wheels, but wheels more significant than 30mm may cause friction on the suspension or shocks. Before making a purchase, test-fit if you're not sure.

Wheel Offset

When shopping for wheels, you generally won't have to worry about choosing the correct offset, but it's still a good idea to know what it is. The term offset describes how the wheel hub is positioned with respect to the rim's width.

If the rim is built so that the hex hub's face is parallel to the wheel's center, it has zero offsets. The wheel has a positive offset if the hub is behind the rim's midline and a negative offset if the hub is in front of the centerline. You can find out if your car needs or has wheels with a non-standard offset by consulting the handbook for your model.

For instance, the hub face is 3 mm behind the wheel's centerline if the wheel offset is +3 mm. The wheels should still fit if you get the "wrong" offset, but the space between them will either be bigger or smaller depending on how much the offsets of your "wrong" and correct wheels differ. More negative offset is not an issue, and you might prefer the broader appearance. If a more positive offset causes clearance problems between the wheel and the suspension or steering components, it could be an issue.

Drift Tires & Wheels

Tyres are typically thought of as something you can choose to boost traction, but if you're interested in drifting, lowering traction is crucial. Drift tyres are comprised of complex, slick plastic rather than rubber, making it simple to spin them and keep the drift angle constant. Additionally, although drift cars are heavily tuned for drifting, they still fit the dimensions of a typical 1/10 scale touring car, and all it takes to start drifting is adding drift tyres to your touring vehicle. Wheels and drift tyres can be bought separately, but since the hard plastic tyres can be difficult to coax onto the wheels, pre-mounted tyres are strongly advised.

Touring Tires for Competition

You won't have to worry about buying the correct size wheels for your 1/10 scale car because racing regulations strictly regulate tyre and wheel sizes. Additionally, you won't be seeing many distinct types because aerodynamics is crucial to racing success; however, there are a few exceptions. Instead, you will need to focus on the rubber compound of the tyre. Compounds differ in their performance in various temperatures, hardness, and suitability for carpet and paved or concrete surfaces. Schumacher's Sorex brand, for instance, describes its compounds as follows:

Sorex Tire Compounds:

24R: It is ideal for standard or modified electric racing and can track temperatures up to 72 degrees. (Tyre for carpet)

28R: Reduce tyre wear by monitoring the temperature between 68 and 84 degrees. (Excellent tyre for asphalt)

32R: Track temperatures range from 81 to 96 degrees, making them ideal for asphalt racing outside.

Although rubber tyres are far more prevalent for electric racing at most tracks, touring vehicles can also race on foam tyres. Firmness and wear resistance increase with tyre foam hardness, which is often expressed as a shore number between 32 and 45. The best place to start is by observing what works for the competitors, just like when choosing tyres for RC or full-scale racing.

Vintage Trans-Am Wheels & Tires

The Vintage Trans-Am class, as the name suggests, transforms your touring vehicle into a contestant in the SCCA's Trans-American Championship from the late 1960s and early 1970s, which is considered the heyday of muscle car racing. The long-wearing rubber composition used to create Protoform's VTA-specific rubber tyres makes them suitable for both recreational driving and real VTA competition. Both front and rear tyres fitted on vintage-style wheels are offered. The "fronts" can be used on both the front and rear of 190mm bodies and are 26mm wide with zero offset. The wide rear fenders of Protoform's VTA bodies are filled by the 31mm wide "rear" wheels with a 6mm offset.

The fundamentals of on-road tyres are there. At V8engineforsale, you can easily select the proper tyres for your equipment by filtering by surface type, size, compound, brand, and more. If you need help choosing tyres, you can also chat with us. For desktop users, tap the chat symbol in the top right corner of the screen; for mobile users, choose chat from the menu on the top left.