VersaWheel vs Traction wheels

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by ttldomination

If I remember correctly, someone posted a picture of the versas after a couple of regionals. All that was left of the versa treads were nubs.

You may have seem my post in this thread: http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...06#post1257706

Originally Posted by thefro526

Sorry I'm a bit late with this reply, been a bit busy competing...

Here's a picture showing the difference in tread profile between a well-worn versawheel and a brand new one. The wheel on the left has ~40 'official' matches on it, ~10 practice matches and some build season run time on it. It's noticeably slicker than a new wheel, almost as if the tread has glazed over.

Personally, I think the Versa Wheel is the best 'bang for buck' wheel out there, with it's only real issue being tread wear. Subjectively, I'd say that they wear about as fast as gum rubber rough-top tread, but have superior traction characteristics in the fore/aft direction, while having a lower lateral COF (makes turning easier.) If you're looking for a long term wheel solution (something that doesn't wear) then blue nitrile is probably your best bet, or a colson wheel.

The trick to using Versawheels is to design the drive around them being removed at least once per event, and if your budget is friendly enough, have a complete second set of wheels (with hardware) on hand to swap for a worn set. This is what we did, and a wheel swap (6 to 8 wheels each swap) could be done in about 5 minutes.