Racing tires..Goosebumps or Caliber??

[Out of Sight]

Guys...I can't make up my mind. Help me out here...
I only have enough cash to burn on just a set of tires. Despite some newer SC tires from AKA and Hot Bodies, I will just narrow my options between these two :
Jconcept Goosebumps and Proline Calibers SC

My intended usage is pure track running and racing, no bashing.
Here's my local track condition :

- Outdoor
- Climate : Tropical
- Ambience : 75*F to 90*F all year round (obviously we don't get snow here LOL..just some torrential rain)
- Surface : hard compacted dirt/soil. During the dry season it's very dusty, due to the top soil drying out to a fine powder. But the lower soil remains compacted and slightly damp. During the wet season, the fine powdery surface becomes very damp and rather sticky in a form of dirt chunks, found all over the skids and chassis nooks after each run.
- I don't know what to call this type of soil, but if the track is left unused for an extended period of time (during heavy rainy season), grass will thrive and starts to grow in the middle of the track, fast. The soil is enriched with nutritious substance for plants i guess.

Here's a pic of my local track during the dry season, a month after the rainy season.



As you can see patches of grass growing from previous rainy season. I was the first to hit the track then, obviously the track hadn't been mowed, probably the keeper didn;t even bother, since previously nobody showed up at the track (I thought the Slash was supposed to be waterproof ?? )

I'm running 2wd Slash on 2s 5200 Lipo and 8.5t 4000kv brushless motor.

So if you any experience with either the Goosebumps and Calibers, or preferably both, which ones would you think suit my track better? Please state your reasons too.
Thanks

[DrFizz2k1]

Its been my experience the calibers were better on groomed, high bite tracks, and the bumps were better on a looser track, that being said, the goosebumps work well on every surface where as the calibers were probably better in some cases, the goosebumps were better all around.. wet, dry, too wet, too dry, pavement.. LOL.. they seem to wear better too.. but dont limit yourself to just these two tires, the new AKA SC Enduro tires are amazing, as are the AKA Wishbones.. VERY nice.. careful with the foams on those though, the mediums are pretty stiff...

[Out of Sight]

Thanks DrFizz!
Yeah, a friend also recommended the AKAs, but he ended up purchasing the Calibers, since those AKAs weren't readily available on the market then. But the Enduro looks much like Caliber. I'm also concerned about these types of tires, where the blocks are so closely spaced resembling a bathroom body scrub LOL. As mentioned in my earlier post, the dirt tends to get sticky when wet, and might clogged up the blocks and render the tire as 'slicks'.

I had tried the 'bumps in dry and damp condition. The much further spaced pins on the 'bumps gave them EXCELLENT self cleaning properties. But I was shocked by the wear rate. They were in super soft green compund btw. About 4 packs of 5000 mah lipo, the rears showed a considerable wear on the top pins.

[Slashdrivr]

Calibers suck in even slightly damp conditions, they pack right up, and do not clean up...the drier it is, the better they work.

I've run the goosebumps and now the wishbones even when wet and sticky they really don't loose much grip...

[Team Riptide 17]

Calibers suck in even slightly damp conditions, they pack right up, and do not clean up...the drier it is, the better they work.

I've run the goosebumps and now the wishbones even when wet and sticky they really don't loose much grip...

I have to agree. We run Calibers almost exclusively on our track and it is desert conditions most of the time. Still a high level of grip. Goosebumps were horrible, not even close to the Calibers in our dry conditions. A damp track is another story however! The Calibers will load up and stay that way. There are several tires that work well in the damp. Honestly, tires aren't quite as critical (as long as they don't load completely up) in damp, high grip situations. They do however mean everything when the moisture goes away and you are fighting for every bit of traction you can get. Compound makes a great deal of difference as well. We all run M3 compound and get about 4 full days of running before the rear grip starts to go away and we rotate front to back. M2's will give more life but don't grip as well. I can't imagine the crazy levels of grip the M4's would provide but I also can't imagine replacing my tires every race using such a soft tire. That is 1/8 scale buggy territory and don't want any part of that!

For where we run, the Caliber is king but I know there are new tires out I want to try. Conditions dictate all tire choices but do be prepared to make some compromises. Good luck!

TR17

[Tom95YJ]

I own a set of goosebumps and calibers I switch back and forth depending on track conditions but on the super dry blue groove the Goosebumps are hooked up great. next time I goto the track Im going to try a Goosebumps/calibers combo

[Telnets]

AKAs all the way for me.. tried them out this weekend on a dry track, and after it was watered, and both times i felt i was glued to the track

[sliding_josh]

Dude AKA all day here! Im running the 1/8 Crossbrace in the Green compound.

I run them around out side and they grip fine, then took them on the track that was a lil damp and they did not pack up with dirt I had awesome grip through out the day of racing on my track!

[raceraj09]

I have the same problem so which AKA's would you recomend?

[Out of Sight]

So, I guess there aren't any perfect tires for a given conditions. Some excel in certain condition where others are less than favorable. So which do you guys think is the best all-rounder? I'm now mixing the AKA into my options. Our local climate throughout the year is around 30% dry season (March-August), and the rest is light/occasional rain (Sept-Desember) to heavy rain (Late Desember-March). February is the worst, raining all day, which makes our track completely undrivable, although the RC Scaler/Crawler guys seem to enjoy it!

[captain kirk]

panther switches for hard packed clay tracs

[RCNEWB5150]

i like calibers!!! unless you are driving on wet loose tracks you will hate the calibers!!!

[Team Riptide 17]

The best thing you can do at any given track is see what the fast guys are running, then mimic... Usually someone has already got it figured out. Most racers will be happy to clue you in on tire selection and how they perform in the conditions. While this is never a certainty (some driving styles favor a different level of grip than you personally might like) it will get you in the ballpark with usually a couple tire choices.

Looking again at the pic of your track, I would still think the Caliber would be great. I would also factor in how wet the track gets before you guys will cancel a race. That would tell you if you are running in conditions that would load a tire like the Caliber up.

Do keep in mind like stated above, racing is hard on tires and you will not be just buying one set of tires for a race season. For grip you sacrifice longevity... Like I said before, I get about 4 weekends/races out of mine. I set my truck up and leave it alone until race day. I can't afford to run mine every off weekend just to turn laps. I would be buying tires all the time...


TR17

[Out of Sight]

So far the top drivers at my track are running goosebumps and bowties, because we didn't get the chance to purchase the Calibers since our LHS had just imported them on mid April. AKAs are also said to come later this month.

@Team Riptide 17
I agree, driving styles also dictate tyre choices and preferences. I like to actually swing the rear end loose, keep the throttle open,and dart inside the cornering apex by using a very minimum steering correction, hence my sig So I prefer a tire with less lateral grip, but more forward grip.

I think I might just wait and see which holds the candle at my track. Good thing is I had just sold some unused items, so I have more spare cash to purchase 4 different sets of tire with rims now. Considering our current weather and track condition (dry and dusty,see above pic), I might just buy the Calibers first, and then the Goosebumps should the sky decided to shed some tears on our track (rain)

Thanks for all your insights guys, I appreciate it!