The Paradox

This may seem odd, but anyway here it goes.

I compete in an electric car racing league called Electrathon. In Electrathon people build one person electric cars powered by two car batteries. A lot of design ideas are taken directly from bike racing. Electrathon races are generally held in large parking lots and such with top speeds reaching ~35 mph. The national races are held at Portland International Raceway and on that track speeds can reach 65+mph. An average car weight with driver and batteries in it is 350-375lbs. This weight is spread over three wheels, two in the front, and one in the back. The rims are basically BMX rims, but that shouldn't really make a difference, should it?

Keeping this in mind, I am looking for the best tires for racing these cars. They should ideally be light weight, have low rolling friction, and have good grip. The tires that everyone else uses are Maxxis hookworms, but I think there are better tires out there. What are they?

johnny99

What size are BMX rims? There are lots of good racing tires in the 700 and 650 sizes, but your selection may be very limited in other sizes.

Propofol

You need to be a little more specific. What is the diameter and width of the rims you're using? What size tires do they normally take?

Ideally, the thinner the tire the better for rolling resistance. Also, I'm pretty sure tubulars would be better than clinchers.

jschen

I don't know much about tire choices, but what is a typical race course like? What characteristics are going to make or break your race? Presumably, tire wear is a non-issue. What about acceleration? Handling? Assuming you don't need to take high-g corners, woudn't the very thinnest and lightest tire be best as long as you're generating sufficient grip so as to not wildly spin your drive wheel(s)? If you need to corner hard, good grip matters. But unlike on a bike, presumably, your cars don't lean over nearly as much. So what makes a bicycle tire really good in a turn isn't necessarily going to make it good on your car.

bluyak

You wont find much better quality then Maxxis. I use Maxxis Fuse and Detenator tires (700x25). Alot of recumbant trike folks use Hookworms. Try adjusting tire pressure for roll out. I assume the rear is the drive tire. try soften it for more grip. Run the fronts hard for roll out.

The Paradox

Sorry, I dont know much bike terms, I just use the wheels

The rims with tires on them are 20 inches in diameter and 2 inches wide. As far as conditions acceleration is somewhat unimportant. Handleing is very important, as it usually makes or breaks a race. As far as leaning the body Its self dosen't but in corners the wheels get a good 15° camber.

A friend recomended Michelin road sticks or something like that.

jsharr

Your choices are going to be limited by the size of your rim. 20" rims are BMX territory, not road bicycle territory. You might ask the guys in the BMX forum for some input. On a different note, I do not know what your budget is like, but I would buy two or three sets of tires, visit your local bike shop/shops and see what they have, and head out to test. Record lap times using different tires at different pressures and see what works best for you. Remember to record air temp and track temp too so that you have some numbers to work with and decide which tire combo to run on race day. Testing makes or breaks a race team, or at least that is my experience from years of crewing on racing sailboats and being around friends who race cars. Good luck

tinrobot

You want slick tires, high pressure and minimal rolling resistance. Not too big of a selection in the 20" size, but I found these:

Schwalbe Stelvio 20" High Pressure Tire

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...il.asp?p=SCVIO