Hpi Subaru budget tyres try out.

[JonnyUK]

Seen as I seem to spend an extortionate amount on tyres for my high powered rc's, I decided to go down the budget route.

It might work out, might not.  Trial and error though because most sellers don't give exact dimensions. 

 

Anyway, these came today for the Hpi, I wanted some offroad rubber for it.  £12 for all four with wheels.

They come in a choice of four colours and the plastic feels about as flexible as stock.

My original plan was to fit the tyres onto some stock rims but these actually fit and, even though they are wider, the offset is different. Luckily this means they fit and clear the bodyshell. The only thing I need to do is to move the power switch forward a bit.

I reckon there would be rubbing issues if I did fit the narrower front tyres onto oem rims. 

Oem road wheels are 2.2 inch, these seem to be 2.1 inch so they would fit with a little stretch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the fronts are a bit wider and the rears wider still.  Outer diameter is around 87mm versus the stock 80mm. 

The outer track of each axle is roughly 1.5mm less.

 

They feel about as soft as the stock rubber, which I don't think are banded.  I am doing the duct tape mod to band these new tyres, I don't want them ballooning loads and wrecking the body etc.

Also covering the air hole and might need to sand the plastic so that the glue has a key.

 

I reckon if I run it on 3s and on the 75% power setting I should get away with it.

[cooper_xl]

the thread looks great for dirt!

[JonnyUK]

35 minutes ago, cooper_xl said:

the thread looks great for dirt!

 

I just hope they hold up and don't explode.

[JonnyUK]

Now 'banded' and glued.

[JonnyUK]

Relocated the power switch about 2cm further forward and fit a guard to hopefully stop it getting broken by stones.  No idea why Hpi positioned it so close to the rear wheel to start with.

[Douge one]

On 06/12/2022 at 21:10, JonnyUK said:

Seen as I seem to spend an extortionate amount on tyres for my high powered rc's, I decided to go down the budget route.

It might work out, might not.  Trial and error though because most sellers don't give exact dimensions. 

 

Anyway, these came today for the Hpi, I wanted some offroad rubber for it.  £12 for all four with wheels.

They come in a choice of four colours and the plastic feels about as flexible as stock.

My original plan was to fit the tyres onto some stock rims but these actually fit and, even though they are wider, the offset is different. Luckily this means they fit and clear the bodyshell. The only thing I need to do is to move the power switch forward a bit.

I reckon there would be rubbing issues if I did fit the narrower front tyres onto oem rims. 

Oem road wheels are 2.2 inch, these seem to be 2.1 inch so they would fit with a little stretch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, the fronts are a bit wider and the rears wider still.  Outer diameter is around 87mm versus the stock 80mm. 

The outer track of each axle is roughly 1.5mm less.

 

They feel about as soft as the stock rubber, which I don't think are banded.  I am doing the duct tape mod to band these new tyres, I don't want them ballooning loads and wrecking the body etc.

Also covering the air hole and might need to sand the plastic so that the glue has a key.

 

I reckon if I run it on 3s and on the 75% power setting I should get away with it.

I once bought those front tires in bulk from AliExpress for 2pounds a pair in old days when everyone was struggling to find any tires for wr8.I glued them on tarmac rims no problem,  They ok on gravel, knobs survive maybe 15 2s pack and  later I was using them bald on tarmac and power slide and drift for miles, hpi rubber is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better, and they balloon on 2s but I run fiesta body so was fine. Overall I'm happy and still use them them sometimes.

 

[JonnyUK]

After the duct tape on the inside of the tyres, when run at full revs they only seem to balloon a couple of mm so should be ok, hopefully...

 

So I made the inner arches out of spare modelling plastic.  I couldn't be bothered making them curved of fixed to the removeable body.

 

 

The original plan was to just fold them and glue, but after been stood overnight they annoyingly started splitting so I added some strengtheners. 

Weight was only 16g each seen as the plastic is about 0.4mm thick.

 

Then it dawned on me that gravel firing at speed would likely split them.  Quick rethink, I went with doing the Fiba tape and shoe goo thing, Seems to work on bodyshells. 

 

 

The fit is good, snug up to the bodyshell and clears the tyres on full compression by a few mm's.

Rear.

 

Front.

 

 

 

 

I might just leave them fitted all of the time but they can easily be removed with a few bolts, for when running in summer on clean tarmac.

I also made a larger aluminium bonnet scoop to help get the air flowing through, these arches do block some air obviously.

[tomekk33]

WOW, good job!

Could you write the dimensions of the fenders? I'm going to do the same with HIPS plastic

[JonnyUK]

41 minutes ago, tomekk33 said:

WOW, good job!

Could you write the dimensions of the fenders? I'm going to do the same with HIPS plastic

 

Hi, I sold it a while ago to fund other things.  I did make cardboard templates first but will have binned these sorry. 

When I made them I just did lots of measuring and trimming the cardboard until it was almost touching the bodyshell.

 

[tomekk33]

I understand 😞 I've already started taking measurements and your photos will help a lot. Thanks for the answer 🙂