Why do racecars have no tread?
In: Engineering
The primary purpose of a tire is to keep the vehicle within the control of the driver. Under ideal conditions such as dry roads, the type of tire you have does not have a significant impact on the car. However, when roads are wet or icy, treads help the car from losing control. [BurtBrothers](https://burtbrothers.com/blog/why-tire-tread-matters/#:~:text=The%20tread%20patterns%20of%20a,best%20option%20for%20safe%20driving) say that the tread patterns along a tire displace water so the tire can always maintain full contact with the road. Tread patterns also help with traction because they can dig into the ground’s surface if you are traveling over dirt or sand. The depth of the tread will become advantageous for a smoother ride.
If you look at the bottom of your shoes you will notice that they have some form of tread. The shoe’s tread prevents slipping in case it is wet where you are walking or running. The same is true for tires you see on most cars while driving down the road. Almost all of them will have treads so that they will keep your car from sliding in all weather conditions. Race car tires or racing slicks on the other hand are completely flat. This is because they do not have to worry about weather as there are only races while the track is dry. These “flats” increase the amount of the tire that is touching the track which improves control of the car. The theory behind flats is to maximize the contact between the tire’s surface area and the track. When there are treads, there will be gaps and so the whole tire will not be in contact with the ground. Crews change these tires multiple times in each race because unfortunately they will wear out quicker than regular tires. treads and tires depending on the vehicle and conditions it will be used in.
The grooves on normal tyres help to displace water and add grip in some slippery situations, that’s why off-road wheels have those huge threads. Racing slicks are smooth to have a larger contact patch with the surface so more grip is available. Wet weather racing ryes have the grooves back to help move through the water
Race cars use tires without tread because smooth tires provide better traction in dry conditions. Everything in a race car is designed to provide the fastest possible lap time at the end of the day. If you remove tread off the tire, that can add milliseconds to the lap time, which can add up over the course of the race, and as you’re racing other people.
Of course, there are tires with tread, such as tires made for racing in wet condition or tires for rallycross. The reason the wet tires have tread is to displace water away from the tires to keep the tires on the ground. If we raced with smooth tires in the rain, the car would hydroplane (when a thin layer of water separates the cars tires from the road below them), causing it to spin.
More rubber on the ground equals more traction. They also use a softer/stickier rubber compound. Street cars have tread patterns because (racing slicks) don’t work well on a wet road. Even if you were to drive through a little bit of water, you would lose control.
a thread doesn’t serve any purpose if the car is gonna run on a dry track.
for Track usage you want as much contact as possible to improve traction which translate into a better usage of engine power to propel the car.
racing tires can have threads still but its only for rally or racing in wet conditions
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