Freecarve vs. Race Boards

[AK in PA]

I've been scouring the Donek and Coiler sites in search of a new 170-180cm carving board. Seems like everyone loves these boards. (I'm on an old Burton PJ6, which I like, but can't lay it over as hard as I'd like or get too comfy on ice before it slides/chatters out.)

Anyway, In the Donek's, what would make me choose between a Freecarve, Freecarve II, and a race board?

Or in the Coiler's, between a Freecarve, Racecarve, Racecarve II, and Purerace GS?

Are the slightly wider freecarve-type boards more forgiving in less than optimal snow? Do the true Race boards get hard to control on anything less than perfect groomed runs? Does one type wear your legs out faster? Or another way to put it might be, for carving, why would you choose anything other than a true Race board?

[Mike T]

For the most part, boards that have too much sidecut (lower sidecut radius) to be a Giant Slalom board, but not enough sidecut to be a Slalom board, get labelled Freecarve boards. Coiler has a category called "Race Carve" in between GS and Freecarve. Their sidecuts are about the same as Doneks longer FC boards so, it's really just a naming thing.

As for how they handle in various situations, Sean @ Donek and Bruce @ Coiler can tell you the whole stories for their respective lines. I've got a long Coiler and some short Doneks, I could compare them but I'd be leaving out which differences are due to length and which do to manufacturer, since I can't compare long vs long and short vs short, I don't know.

If you are really interested in something that will handle all conditions well, there is always an all-mountain alpine board such as a Coiler All-Mtn or a Donek Axis.