why do racecars have to change tires so often? Usually tires are good for much longer than a day.
In: Engineering
Race tires aren’t like road car all-weathers. The tread compound is designed to absolutely maximize grip and minimize weight at the expense of wear life.
They’re significantly thinner than road tires, and the tread rubber is more like a pencil eraser than the impervious treads of a road car.
It provides phenomenal grip under the right conditions, but it’s also easy to shred off and there’s not a lot of material to lose.
You can gain many seconds a lap with race tires, so even though they don’t survive an entire race you’re still much faster than a car with durable road tires would be. They’re driving on ice and you’re on flypaper.
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