Need Help Choosing Tires

[SquidBonez]

I recently just finished up my Manco Dingo project, but now I want to change out tires. This kart is exclusively driven on grass, sticks, and leaves, so I originally planned on keeping the knobbies that are on it. But I've recently had the idea of putting slicks on it for some drifting fun. Question is, should I go full slicks or should I go ribbed? Or perhaps just ribbed on the front for bite and full slicks on the back? Slicks all around? I still want to be able to drive fast like I normally do, but I just want the kart to be a bit more tail happy and less prone to tipping (the knobbies will flip the kart before they slide...trust me, I've came close). Cars and Cameras have a ton of videos of them racing on grass with full slicks, and they still carry good speed while still being able to have fun. What should I go with? Planning on ordering the tires tonight.

 

[J.S.@SMS]

I don't know how it would compare to a bigger kart, but my Carter Bros. drifter (about 5.5 maybe 6 foot long and less than 200 lbs) goes very well with 11x6-6 slicks on the back and 4.10x3.50-6 stud tires up front (pretty much small knobbies with a different name). It gets enough traction to go full speed off road, and will slide the rear end around very easily. However I don't know how well a kart like yours would go. My drifter was originally set up as a 1wp kart with 10" tires all around, but your kart probably has 18" tires. Also I've spun out a few times, but most of that was when I was first learning the kart (I got it as a bare frame, and it started right off with a live axle conversion. But you'll have to remember that the kart will handle totally different, go take it easy and avoid trees for the first few hours.

Ps: I have a few pics of the kart in my album under my profile.

 

[SquidBonez]

I'll be running 18x9.5-8 slicks on the back; exact same size as the knobbies they are replacing. Most of the riding is an open field, so trees won't be that big of an issue. Guess I'll go with slicks all around. My kart is a live axle too so it'll still get significant grip, and the contact patch will still be quite large. Front tires are going from 14.5x7-6 knobbies to 13x5-6 slicks, so they'll be slightly smaller but they'll still work with the rims I have.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

I went with turf saver type tires.

 

[SquidBonez]

How are those turf savers grip wise? I imagine it's sort of a middle ground between slicks and knobbies right? How much slip does it allow for?

 

[Budget GoKart]

Enough to drift a giant yerf dog on wet grass with p212 and a cent clutch

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Squid. Yes. Middle ground. I can break em loose and spin around but there's enough traction to keep me on course. It's all in the throttle control.

 

[SquidBonez]

Ended up buying the slicks. As long as I can still get up to full speed then I'm good. I want to be able to drive fast but have a lot of tail-end-out shenanigans. My inspiration came from Cars and Cameras and how their race karts slide around corners on grass. Was thinking turf savers but still went with slicks.

 

[SquidBonez]

Just an update: mounted the slicks on the kart, they're exactly what I wanted. I still have decent grip on grass yet the back end will kick out fairly easily. Way less tippy as well, so it's actually a bit safer. Sacrificed a bit of speed (about 3mph) but it's worth it. I'll update my build thread with pictures later.

 

[TheSean]

I went with wet weather rears on the front (bit wider) and standard rear slicks on the rear of a chinese origin kart (we get here in Australia) that's similar size to what your Dingo is (which, ironically, we don't get in Australia, as you would think with a name like Dingo)