I'm by no stretch of the imagination a techie, so please treat me gently.
One question that's been on my mind is what advantage harder compound F1 tyres may give over a softer compound? From a VERY basic point of view, most/alot of tyre wear comes from sliding through corners (i.e. braking traction), right?. If a softer compound offers more grip, why would it necessarily wear out quicker than a harder compound that has less grip and more likely to slide at a corner, causing more wear?
Is it something to do with heat?
Hard vs Soft Tyres
Started by
El Magnificante
, Jul 23 2004 15:03
4 replies to this topic
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#2
Pioneer
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Posted 23 July 2004 - 15:47
Not all tyre wear comes from sliding. Tires wear... period. The softer they are the faster they wear. This is just the way it is.
Another potential problem is heat. Softer tires get hotter faster. On a cold day this is good on a hot day not so good. If you exceed the temperature that the tire was designed for, it again wears faster and may also in fact have less grip than a tire at the optimal temp.
Another potential problem is heat. Softer tires get hotter faster. On a cold day this is good on a hot day not so good. If you exceed the temperature that the tire was designed for, it again wears faster and may also in fact have less grip than a tire at the optimal temp.
#3
El Magnificante
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Posted 23 July 2004 - 15:51
So does excess heat start to degrade the tyre compound, making it too 'liquid'?
I guess traction control systems play a large part in tyre wear?
I guess traction control systems play a large part in tyre wear?
#4
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Posted 23 July 2004 - 16:11
Excess heat is what causes tires to "blister".
Traction control does play a part in tire wear but you can look at it from 2 ways. Either the TC can be set to not allow the tires to slip much at all and tire life is increased, or it can be set to allow a certain amount of controlled slip. Since the optimal cornering speeds are achieved with a precise amount of slip, this can go either way. It might allow more or less slip than the driver would produce on his own. Obviously this would also depend on the driver's style too. I'd say though that it tends to average out and TC probably does not significantly increase or decrease tire wear.
Traction control does play a part in tire wear but you can look at it from 2 ways. Either the TC can be set to not allow the tires to slip much at all and tire life is increased, or it can be set to allow a certain amount of controlled slip. Since the optimal cornering speeds are achieved with a precise amount of slip, this can go either way. It might allow more or less slip than the driver would produce on his own. Obviously this would also depend on the driver's style too. I'd say though that it tends to average out and TC probably does not significantly increase or decrease tire wear.
#5
Spunout
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Posted 25 July 2004 - 23:57
"One question that's been on my mind is what advantage harder compound F1 tyres may give over a softer compound? From a VERY basic point of view, most/alot of tyre wear comes from sliding through corners (i.e. braking traction), right?. If a softer compound offers more grip, why would it necessarily wear out quicker than a harder compound that has less grip and more likely to slide at a corner, causing more wear?"
Well, there is very simple answer to your question. If you have more grip (softer tyres), you go faster (on the limit of the grip you have!) and end up sliding anyway ;) And since softer tyres have more wear...
Well, there is very simple answer to your question. If you have more grip (softer tyres), you go faster (on the limit of the grip you have!) and end up sliding anyway ;) And since softer tyres have more wear...
