Eli5 – F1 cars have smooth tyres for grip yet on a normal car this would be certain death. Why do smooth tyres give F1 cars more grip yet normal cars less grip?
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If it never rained/snowed, road cars would absolutely have slick tires. Slick tires are better in almost every way, except for the fact that they can’t dig and hydroplane way too easily.
F1 cars have smooth tyres only for absolutely dry conditions, just a couple droplets of rain and they have to switch to grooved tyres or they fly off in the corners. Normal cars can’t pit stop and change tyres so they have to compromise.
F1 cars have smooth tyres only for absolutely dry conditions, just a couple droplets of rain and they have to switch to grooved tyres or they fly off in the corners. Normal cars can’t pit stop and change tyres so they have to compromise.
Well, for starters: They don’t. Slick tyres (that’s what they’re called) are widely used in motorsport exactly for their superior grip. You could put slick tyres on your regular car, and it would in fact give better grip. But you don’t, for two reasons:
1. A regular road car doesn’t really need the extra grip
2. Slick tyres are purpose made for specific conditions. That is, dry asphalt, optimally of race circuit quality. Let some rain drop, and those tyres will soon turn your car into an incredibly shoddy boat. That’s why F1 and carious other series have separate wet tyre compounds as well.
So in short: Your premise is false, slick tyres give better grip for **any** vehicle, but only as long as you drive under ideal conditions.
Well, for starters: They don’t. Slick tyres (that’s what they’re called) are widely used in motorsport exactly for their superior grip. You could put slick tyres on your regular car, and it would in fact give better grip. But you don’t, for two reasons:
1. A regular road car doesn’t really need the extra grip
2. Slick tyres are purpose made for specific conditions. That is, dry asphalt, optimally of race circuit quality. Let some rain drop, and those tyres will soon turn your car into an incredibly shoddy boat. That’s why F1 and carious other series have separate wet tyre compounds as well.
So in short: Your premise is false, slick tyres give better grip for **any** vehicle, but only as long as you drive under ideal conditions.
Well, for starters: They don’t. Slick tyres (that’s what they’re called) are widely used in motorsport exactly for their superior grip. You could put slick tyres on your regular car, and it would in fact give better grip. But you don’t, for two reasons:
1. A regular road car doesn’t really need the extra grip
2. Slick tyres are purpose made for specific conditions. That is, dry asphalt, optimally of race circuit quality. Let some rain drop, and those tyres will soon turn your car into an incredibly shoddy boat. That’s why F1 and carious other series have separate wet tyre compounds as well.
So in short: Your premise is false, slick tyres give better grip for **any** vehicle, but only as long as you drive under ideal conditions.
Typical car tires have grooves to handle hazardous conditions like rain or snow or debris. Under ideal conditions normal cars would be just fine with smooth tires. In fact, when it begins to drizzle, F1 cars switch tires for just that reason.
Typical car tires have grooves to handle hazardous conditions like rain or snow or debris. Under ideal conditions normal cars would be just fine with smooth tires. In fact, when it begins to drizzle, F1 cars switch tires for just that reason.
Typical car tires have grooves to handle hazardous conditions like rain or snow or debris. Under ideal conditions normal cars would be just fine with smooth tires. In fact, when it begins to drizzle, F1 cars switch tires for just that reason.
If you’re equating bald tires on a passenger car to racing slicks, then yes, the bald tires are trouble.
This is due to a few factors:
One is that if a passenger tire is bald, the amount of rubber left on it is very thin, below the minimum amount for safety. This drastically increases the chance of a blowout.
The other is that as tires age, they become hard. A hard tire has less relative grip in most conditions than a soft tire. A bald tire is usually very old. So it’s brittle and very hard. This means less traction.
So you have low traction (or a very low coefficient of friction) coupled with a brittle tire that has minimal rubber left. This is why bald passenger tires are very dangerous.
Race tires generally will meet their minimum rubber thickness well before they become brittle so they retain their traction and integrity. Unless you’re a cheap autox’er like myself and have old track tires, but that’s a different story.
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