ROAR bans wide tires in short course racing

0 March 29, 2011, 6:12 a.m.

Earlier this morning, ROAR published a clear ruling on the width of tires allowed in short course racing. This rule puts a ban on the new 'wide' tires that we have seen released over the past week by a couple different manufacturers. Here is the post from ROAR:

By a unanimous vote of the ROAR Executive Committee, the rule related to the maximum width of short course class tires shall remain undefined in the class rules, which invokes rule 7.3.7 that states that the tread width may not exceed the width of the wheel. For the 1/10 Short Course 2WD and 4WD categories, the maximum wheel width is 1.65 in. (41.9mm). Tires and wheels exceeding these limits will not be legal for use in ROAR competition.

We took a moment to talk to Steve Pond, President of ROAR to get some insight into why this rule was clarified. Here is what he had to say:

The 1.65 inch wheels and tires are the size that are included with the Slash, which is the vehicle on which the Short Course rules are based. Many trucks that followed it, and many aftermarket wheels and tires are in compliance with this rule already. The Short Course category is one that achieved tremendous success on the basis of its scale appeal, which is the reason the rules are specifically designed to keep the proper dimensions and proportions. ROAR already has a truck class that features a wider footprint with much wider tires and out of scale bodies. The membership and the market are overwhelmingly in favor of not making the short course trucks more and more like the current 1/10 racing trucks, which is the reason there will continue to be a lot of scrutiny for items related to this class.

Although a wider width was considered in the provisional rules, when the rules were finally published, the width was omitted essentially confirming the tread width must remain within the width of the wheel. The rule published today does not change the current rules, but rather clarifies it to avoid any confusion.

On behalf of LiveRC.com, we would like to thank Steve Pond for taking the time to speak with us about why this rule was published.

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