Big rookie mistake! High end cars, low end performance
D'oh! I got into this because I've always done RC, slot cars, trains, and especially miniature wargaming/dioramas. Painting, scratchbuilding and weathering are my thing.
MY favorite: tv/movie cars, went from 1/25 SCALE conversions to ho slot car and wargaming statics.
I never knew the higher end 1/64s absolutely suck on the track! AW, Greenlight, and even more $ cars barely go at all, and cannot make any turn!
So I've already converted/repainted/created decals for about three dozen cars, that suck, lol.
Did EVERY car for Dukes of Hazzard, Blues Brothers (even the "nazi Pinto", Happy Days Malachi Crunch episode, and more.
Only one (a Maitso 69 charger from Dolluh tree) runs at all! D'OH! I paid like 6-8 bucks for those things, poisoned myself on this nasty, 40 buck a quart paint stripper that is banned in most states but strips a car in 'bout 2 minutes, and still didn't pay near what the factory Duke cars cost).
Lol, now I am making a Boars Nest, as it's gonna be static scenery!
THATS WHY GTR, 3dBot, KotM didn't allow rubber tires??? (I Thougtt it was because they are too unfairly great on tracks!)
Anyway, it was a fun lesson! Was I the only one who never wondered why everyone used Hot Wheels???
:)
Discussion
The lessons are sometimes hard learned... I'm still noob closing in on my first year and still learning lessons! Read all you can and see what others have done. You generally cannot go wrong unless you are stubborn like I am and insist on learning from my own mistakes!
Lots of great articles here in the archives and vids on youtube.
Good luck brother... see you at the finish line!
FredD
Downhill racing is all about the reduction of friction between the wheel and axel and carrying that momentum through turns on a Road Style course. Rubber tiers cause too much friction with the track and slow the cars down A LOT, especially in corners.
I've run rubber tire cars on my tracks before, but with limited success. On the old Canyon track, which was much steeper, they did work and usually made it to the bottom, but if they came out of a turn wrong, they couldn't correct themselves.
You can always just swap the wheels out and they are good, especially as they usually have metal bases too, so they are solid and have a lower CoG.
Sadly rubber tires may look great but they run like molasses, All show but no go
Don't totally give up on rubber tires. I've attended club racing events that have included rubber tires races as a separate class. I keep a HW Ford GTX-1 TH tucked away in my racing box for that reason.
And don't totally give up on other manufacturers. Sure, Mattel started this active pasttime and thier products are dominant in our community...but there are lots of fast, hidden gems out there from other brands that have been known to induce a HW purist's jaw drop.
Like I always say:
Rubber for show, plastic for go.
That's all you really need to know.
I'm a noob too. Last weekend I bought this beautiful RLC Rodger Dodger still in its blister with the intent of ripping it and running it on my track. It turns out the wheels have the worst offcenter spin I've encountered to date. I'm almost ashamed to say that I'm going to pop the rivets and do a wheel swap. But I bought it to run it, and it looks so good out of the packa
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PS, my wife said "good thing you didn't go with 1/43" and build track! (I have hundreds of cars, used in 33mm wargaming..) turns out, those nice, rubber tired pullback cars are not good downhill gravity racers! (Bet they would rock on a flat, 6 foot drag strip? :) )