When you Google why are f1 tires smooth, the answer is no tread means more surface area, so better grip, but when you Google why do street tires have grooves, the same answer comes up. I’m confused. Also, is this a physics question, engineering or technology? Lol
In: Engineering
Because track road conditions are different than non track road conditions. If you know the roads are clean and dry then use racing tires on the street. As soon as you hit a puddle or rocks or a bumpy surface expect to lose traction. Laws also require minimum amount of groves on street legal tires.
The moment there is just a hint of rain the F1 cars all go into the pits to change to tyres with groves. This is because when it is wet the water needs some where to go as you drive on it. The water can flow into the groves of the tyre threads so the rubber gets into contact with the hard surface under the water. But with slick tyres the water have nowhere to flow and the tyre will therefore just float on top of the water. This is called planing and causes you to have almost no grip. While F1 drivers have the ability to quickly get into the pits for a set of tyres with groves whenever they need it you can not do this while driving around on the streets. It is therefore legally mandated that you need threads in your tyres while driving on the street. So that in the event of rain your tyres will have grip.
F1 only uses those tires when it’s dry, when they are very effective.
However when you drive your own car, it’s not always dry, there is water on the road. This water needs to go somewhere so you don’t literally drive on water with your car.
F1 cars use grooves when it’s raining, slicks are only for dry
what gives you more traction on a slippery floor – the palm of your hands or your finger tips? that’s the same with F1 tires….treaded tires are designed for different scenarios from snow/mud to rain, to better fuel efficiency etc…F1 tires in theory will not be as good on wet surfaces but if the track is too wet then they either postpone the race or the drives simply slow down and adjust their cornering to suit.
Slick tires have the best grip, but only if the road is dry. When it starts to rain, those slick tires cannot displace water fast enough, it accumulates in front of the tire, and they start aquaplaning. If the tire have grooves, water can displace to them, and it doesn’t accumulate in front of the tire.
In F1, they use slick tires because they have the best grip, but when it starts to rain, they change to wet tires. In fact, F1 teams study when to change from dry to wets (and viceversa), taking into account how much water is there on the track, how much is raining, and how much (and for how long) will rain.
Smooth tires means maximum contact with the road surface, hence their use in F1. That would be the same for your vehicle.
The difference is that your vehicle spends a lot of its time on roads that are in less than ideal conditions. The main problem the average driver faces on ordinary roads isn’t getting maximum traction (grip) during cornering — it’s coping with conditions that could separate the tire from the road and cause a loss of control, like driving through wet conditions — or worse, slush, or snow.
In those less-than-ideal but normal driving conditions, you need the grooves and treads on the tire in order to disperse the water.
More surface area is great! As long as all of it is actually in contact with the road.
Uneven road: only the highest part of the wheel is in contact. Dirt on the road: the dirt digs into the wheel, which shortens its lifetime. Water on the road: now the tire is in contact with compressed water, which is *much* less grippy.
Treads on tires fix all of those problems. Uneven road or dirt? Highest point/dirt either goes into a tread groove or the tread has enough flex to go around the obstruction. Water? Now compresses in the treads, instead of between the tire and the road.
F1 just has strict road maintenance and shorter tire lifetimes to avoid dealing with the many problems that come from smooth tires.
F1 tires are bubble gum soft and last 400 miles at most. Your car tires are rocks by comparison and last 40,000 miles.
F1 tires for rain have rain channels. If it rains and you are on proper slicks, good luck.
The big problem is water. With smooth tires water on the road can’t get out from between the tire and the road fast enough. This means the tires aren’t gripping the road, and the car is now gliding on water.
For f1, they use smooth tires when it’s dry, but they actually do switch to treaded tires when the track is wet.
For normal cars, trying to have two sets of tires you switch between based on day-to-day weather conditions would be… annoying, to say the least. So since treads are safer on wet roads and work fine on dry roads, treads it is.
F1 tracks are smooth, clean (of any sort of debris), and dry. if they’re not dry the cars use “wet” or “semi-wet” tires that have treads to channel the water away and give you good road contact.
streets are never smooth or clean and are only dry half the time, so street tires are a compromise because nobody has a pit crew to change their tires for the current conditions following them around
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