Low profile tyres vs F1 tyres
Discussion
flemke said:
The Walrus said:
Anyway the LMS cars tyres will normally have big sidewalls to allow for extra tread and wear rates associated with endurance racing.
How much tread wear do you think there is?
I've never measured it, but I'd be surprised if there were more than 3.5 mm of designed wear on a slick. Even wets, which have extra-deep blocks to shift water and also to generate tyre temp, have no more than 7 mm.
The tread on a slick cannot be very thick, or it would overheat.
There is not that much difference in the thread thickness. You cannot maintain a constant tyre temp if there is a big diminution in tread thickness.
Racing tyre design can go all the way from something that will be optimal for only two laps to something that will be stable for maybe ninety minutes (with some degradation).
At the sharp end of the sport, the governing factor will be fuel range, and there are both practical and regulatory limits on what that can be. Once your fuel range is fixed, your max distance between tyre changes will have been fixed as well. Re-fuelling takes a lot longer than tyre changing, so there is no need for "long-life" tyres - you just change them with each fuel stop.
Racing tyre design can go all the way from something that will be optimal for only two laps to something that will be stable for maybe ninety minutes (with some degradation).
At the sharp end of the sport, the governing factor will be fuel range, and there are both practical and regulatory limits on what that can be. Once your fuel range is fixed, your max distance between tyre changes will have been fixed as well. Re-fuelling takes a lot longer than tyre changing, so there is no need for "long-life" tyres - you just change them with each fuel stop.
flemke said:
There is not that much difference in the thread thickness. You cannot maintain a constant tyre temp if there is a big diminution in tread thickness.
Racing tyre design can go all the way from something that will be optimal for only two laps to something that will be stable for maybe ninety minutes (with some degradation).
At the sharp end of the sport, the governing factor will be fuel range, and there are both practical and regulatory limits on what that can be. Once your fuel range is fixed, your max distance between tyre changes will have been fixed as well. Re-fuelling takes a lot longer than tyre changing, so there is no need for "long-life" tyres - you just change them with each fuel stop.
Just wait till solar powered Le-Mans 2056 then you may be singing a different tune Racing tyre design can go all the way from something that will be optimal for only two laps to something that will be stable for maybe ninety minutes (with some degradation).
At the sharp end of the sport, the governing factor will be fuel range, and there are both practical and regulatory limits on what that can be. Once your fuel range is fixed, your max distance between tyre changes will have been fixed as well. Re-fuelling takes a lot longer than tyre changing, so there is no need for "long-life" tyres - you just change them with each fuel stop.
How much of the weight of a large set of wheels and tyres is the wheel itself though?
On my car with 17" wheels, the tyre is a lot heavier than the wheel, changing to a taller profile and smaller wheels would increase the amount of rubber, plus the need for stiffer side walls would increase the unspring weight even more.
I guess there must be an optimum wheel tyre combination that would give the best of both worlds encompassing a sensibily stiff sidewall, lowish weight, comfort,etc but it would be very subjective, given taller sidewalls can provide more feel or warning to some drivers on the road, while those prepared to trust more in the grip preferring the shorter profile and faster response from the tyre.
On my car with 17" wheels, the tyre is a lot heavier than the wheel, changing to a taller profile and smaller wheels would increase the amount of rubber, plus the need for stiffer side walls would increase the unspring weight even more.
I guess there must be an optimum wheel tyre combination that would give the best of both worlds encompassing a sensibily stiff sidewall, lowish weight, comfort,etc but it would be very subjective, given taller sidewalls can provide more feel or warning to some drivers on the road, while those prepared to trust more in the grip preferring the shorter profile and faster response from the tyre.
Code Monkey said:
How much of the weight of a large set of wheels and tyres is the wheel itself though?
On my car with 17" wheels, the tyre is a lot heavier than the wheel, changing to a taller profile and smaller wheels would increase the amount of rubber, plus the need for stiffer side walls would increase the unspring weight even more.
No it's the other way round. Keeping the rolling radius the same although the switch to taller sidewalls and smaller wheels means more rubber there is a saving in the weight of the wheel and a saving in the weight of the tyre because the steel reinforcement needed is less for taller sidewalls.On my car with 17" wheels, the tyre is a lot heavier than the wheel, changing to a taller profile and smaller wheels would increase the amount of rubber, plus the need for stiffer side walls would increase the unspring weight even more.
Code Monkey said:
I guess there must be an optimum wheel tyre combination that would give the best of both worlds encompassing a sensibily stiff sidewall, lowish weight, comfort, etc. but it would be very subjective, given taller sidewalls can provide more feel or warning to some drivers on the road, while those prepared to trust more in the grip preferring the shorter profile and faster response from the tyre.
Yes, generally thought to be about 16". But this varies from car to car, esp related to the car's weight.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff