This week I got new wheels to try out. Stooge race wheels - 120mm x 63mm 50a/45a. Supposedly made specific for racing, and I bought them specifically for my track racing. They were an easy mount and ready to race without any struggle.
They were quite a different experience than the six-shooters and it took me a good 45 minuts to be comfortable enough to start give full effort.
Coasting: This was perhaps the biggest difference. They coast more than the shooters and that makes approaching corners different. With the shooters I didnât need the brakes at all. I could time letting go of the throttle with the corners, and I didnât need to let go of the throttle early. With the race wheels letting go off the throttle and use coasting as brakes had to be done long before the corner. It didnât really make sense to coast that long.
Grib: Grib was one of the things I had high expectations about. When mounting the wheels they attracted a lot of dust and stuff and they felt sticky to the touch. When I rolled the first meters the first thing I noticed was the sound they made. It sounded sort of slimy and sticky to the ground - a good sound.
They felt very secure and for the first time I had a couple of corners where I threw everything in to the corner with out worrying that the wheels would slip. This is great and I canât wait to work more with that. Now my backside cornering are just as I like it to be. The front side (where I grab) changed a little with these wheels, and I need to get comfortable throwing everything in to that corner side again.
Gearing: It was geared 16/60. I need to change to 42 in the wheel. With 60 I reached top speed on the straight stretch and I felt I could handle significantly more speed there. So I need higher top speed. Will see if I can get it by changing wheel gear.
Sensitivity: One of the things that I love the most about pneumatics are the way the suck up all unevenness. The race wheel are more sensitive, and even though this is a pretty smooth race track there are some unevenness where the asphalt are connected.
Especially there are one tight corner where there are a small bump. This corner require a full lean forcing a very tight turn. Two times the bump started a slight slip which was not a good feeling hanging there. I need to find out what to do in that particular corner because after the slip I did not give everything in that corner.
Peeling: When looking at the wheels of the gokarts I see that the rubber is peeling off the tire, and there are small rubber peels everywhere. These race wheels also peels. Take a look at the picture to see how the wheel looked after the session. Cant figure out how much is the wheels own peel, and how much these sticky wheels have sucked up peel and shit from the track. It will be interesting to see how long they will last.
Overall these wheels definitely are race wheels and they thrive on the track. Canât wait to get more time on the track with these. I did cut time again. From 37,67 last week to 37,49 this week. This lap was my last lap of the day, with a drained battery and a âslowâ gearing. The race wheels gave me better cornering and I look forward to see what I can get with the 42 gearing and higher top speed on the straight stretch.
To be continuedâŚ.
Bump in the track:
Peel on wheel