BREAKING: ROAR outlaws new 1/10-scale buggy tires from AKA and Pro-Line!

0 July 21, 2014, 9 p.m.

7/22/2014
By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Despite being available for months, and the year 2014 already being halfway over, ROAR has deemed the new EVO-style tires and wheels from AKA and Pro-Line 1/10-scale VTR's illegal for the rest of this season.

With the ROAR Electric Off-Road Nationals being a spec tire race for the 17.5 classes (oddly enough, the spec tires for this year's race are from JConcepts, who currently does not make a tire outlawed by this rule), and tracks across the country unlikely to enforce the rule as it would only hurt the racers who've already purchased these new tires and wheels, it seems as though the rule will really only affect the Modified class entrants at the ROAR Nationals. Still, it's in the books - for now.

Press release from ROAR Racing:

www.roarracing.com

A recent innovation in the 1/10 off-road buggy tire market, currently under consideration by ROAR for the 2015 racing season, is the evolution of the tire mounting bead to one resembling that of typical 1/8 tires, and new wheels to accommodate the mounting of these tires.To implement this mounting bead design while keeping the sidewall height and overall tire diameter the same, however, it was apparently necessary to increase the wheel diameter in a dimension that is specifically regulated by IFMAR, ROAR and others. Given the global implications of such a change to the rules, it requires more careful consideration prior to approval, and an equal concern for when such a transition can take place. It's for these reasons that this new design is under consideration for the 2015 racing season and not the current season.

Questions about the possibility of adapting the new tires to the old style wheels in the interim, have been raised by some in the racing community, for use at this year's 2014 Electric Off-Road Nationals. It's come to the attention of ROAR that adapting the new style tires to the currently legal wheels requires a modification to the wheel, which is not permitted under the current rules. The nuance of using "adapter kits" that have been available in the market recently, has also been proposed. It's the opinoin of ROAR however, that the use of such adapter kits constitutes a modification to the wheels. To allow such an interim step would require the purchase and installation of adapter kits, which ROAR feels is an undue burden to the racers. There are significant number of racers that have already invested in tires and wheels that are legal under the current rules, and we must disallow the use of the new style tires at this year's National while the full specification is under consideration for next season.

ROAR understands that innovation is necessary and this is a subject that's under close consideration. But we thank you for your patience and understanding during this time, to consider the impact of allowing any "half measures" on all racers. ROAR expects to have this issue fully resolved for the running of the 2015 Nationals, but respectfully requests that racers understand that only the currently approved tires and wheels will be permitted at the upcoming 2014 Nationals.