Paul Gage RevoSlot Tire Test

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Paul Gage RevoSlot Tire Test

Everyone loves running the RevoSlot cars with the exception of the rear tire wear issue.  To fix this we have talked about running BRM’s brass bushings in place of the rear bearings and then running a 3/32 axle, spur gear, wheels and Slot It F30 tires.  F30’s are a solid and proven winner and have held up well in every series we have run.  This would fix the tire wear issue but the cost is close to $30 on top of the cost of the car itself. 

Another option are Paul Gage Urethane tires designed to fit the RevoSlot wheels.  Let’s take a better look at this option and see how these tires hold up under the weight, heat and track surface. 

 

Part Numbering

Paul Gage makes two different compounds – a shore 40 and a shore 20 as well as different diameters.  The numbering system for Paul Gage tires is very easy to understand.  The number starts off with three letters.  The PGT tires are the shore 40 tires, the XGP are the shore 20 tires.  The next two numbers correspond to the outside diameter of the tires as if they were mounted on 15mm wheels.  The next two numbers correspond to the width of the tires.  The final number corresponds to the width of the center rib.  Tires that run on 16mm and 17mm wheels have a LM at the end of the number.  Simple system to understanding the part numbers.

For the test on my RevoSlot Porsche GT2 with the 10mm width rear wheels I ordered one pair of shore 40’s and one pair of shore 20’s.  Part numbers:  PGT-20105LM and XGP-20105LM.  Both of these tires were 20mm diameter tires and measured 21.5mm once mounted to the RevoSlot wheels.

Truing 

These tires are super easy to true – even the shore 20’s.  It took me no more than ten minutes to true the tires without any issues.  The tires have a great rounded profile and don’t require much to profile the transition from the top of the tire to the side. 

I did not use any lighter fluid on the tires once they were trued.

 

Running

I ran the car the car with both durometer’s for what was the equivalent of one race – 15 minutes of running plus about 5 minutes of track cleaning/practice.  I ran the car at 12 volts and was running the tires hard with quick acceleration out of all the turns.  The room temperature was 95 degrees with the track temp 93 degrees.

I did not use any lighter fluid at any time during the test.

 

Results

The shore 20 tires had great traction but wore down quickly.  They got to the point they were so thin they had trouble gripping the wheels.  The diameter of the tires was 20.3mm after the session.  The tire wear created lots of urethane tire dust but there was no sign of tire graining or balls of rubber that we have seen on the BRM tires. 

 

What I learned:  I would purchase the 21mm diameter version of these tires and not the 20mm.  I would glue these tires to the wheel so they don’t chatter under hard acceleration.  These tires would possibly last longer in cooler temperatures.  You will go through one set of tires ($4.95 a pair from our friends at Slot Car Corner) for every race meeting.  They are easy to true so don’t get too concerned about changing them out for every race. 

The shore 40 tires had great traction and did not wear down as quickly as the shore 20’s.  They lasted the entire session and finished with an outside diameter of 20.6mm.  The grip was consistent in the first two heats but went off slightly in the third heat.  The tires were tight on the wheels and did not require gluing.  The tire wear created lots of urethane tire dust but there was no sign of tire graining or balls of rubber that we have seen on the BRM tires. 

What I learned:  I would purchase the 21mm diameter version of these tires to give me some extra rubber and hopefully allow me to run a stronger third heat.  You will go through one set of tires ($4.95 a pair from our friends at Slot Car Corner) for every race meeting.  They are easy to true so don’t get too concerned about changing them out for every race. 

Summary

The Paul Gage tires are the option for us to continue to run RevoSlot cars.  These tires worked great and will allow us to continue to run these popular cars without worrying about rear tire wear.  I am looking forward to running more of these cars in the future now that we have a workable option for rear tires. 

 

Additional Information 7-18-20

After testing the Paul Gage tire’s I realized that a video on Home Racing World and Paul Gages eBay store suggested a different tire for the RevoSlot Porsche’s – a tire with the same numbers but ending in LMDF.  I ordered a pair each of the shore 20’s and shore 40’s.  I tried to mount them and had a similar issue to the Paul Gage tires I tried previously – the XGP version appeared to be wider and would barely fit between the flanges on the wheels.  As a result, the tire was bulging up in the center.  This could be trued down but it still didn’t seem right.  I reached out to Steve at Slot Car Corner and he tried to mount a pair and had issues, then he called Paul Gage and had him try to mount a pair.  Paul said the fit was tight but could work.  Steve at Slot Car Corner pushed him further and Paul Gage said he would get a new mold made to correct the width issue but it would not happen anytime soon as the machine shop he uses was only doing priority jobs due to Covid 19.   

Steve said he had an option he would like me to try.  He sent me two pairs of prototype C.B. Design Wheels designed for 3mm axles.  The wheels are their LMP style in both an 8mm and 10mm width.  The wheels are designed to work with Slot It’s F30 tires, NSR’s Super Grip and Ultra Grips or any other similar tire.

 I received the wheels on Friday and tried mounting tires to them on Saturday.  They work great.  They are a perfect fit and would allow the use of tires we know can hold up to the weight of the RevoSlot cars.  I am looking forward to testing them out and giving everyone a full report.  

I talked to Steve about the possibility of building a blank wheel that would accept the RevoSlot inserts so the wheels would look like the stock versions.  He has plans to make this happen as soon as he can get some time at the machine shop as they too are only doing priority work due to Covid 19.  I can’t wait to see them.

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  6 comments for “Paul Gage RevoSlot Tire Test

  1. Marty
    It has been several years since I bought Paul Gage tires; it sounds like there are a lot of organized options. It might even be worth checking on how these tires would work on other, lighter slot cars. The quick tire truing is definitely a plus.
    Russell

  2. First – great article as usual Marty! If you did these reviews on Youtube maybe you could be the next YT star as a 2nd career (hey it worked for justin bieber).
    2nd – great alternative. BTW – I am still waiting on the Revoslot 1/32 bushings I ordered from Alan 3+ weeks ago : (
    Last – I have used Paul Gage tires on ‘fun’ cars (carerras mainly) and 1/32 drag cars (since he offers some very wide tires). I have never used them in a ASCC series simply b/c they were not spec; -but- have used them on mules and other experimental projects. I found them similar to Slot.IT N22s, and alot more durable than NSR Ultragrips. I found that ShoeGoo seemed to work better than CA since too little CA ‘broke’ very shortly ( <60 minutes) and a tad-too-much CA split the sidewalls.

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