Racing slick
A racing slick or slick tyre is a type of
Slick tyres are not suitable for use on common road vehicles, which must be able to operate in all weather conditions. They are used in auto racing where competitors can choose different tyres based on the weather conditions and can often change tyres during a race.
Performance
Two
- Indentation of the viscoelastictyre rubber adapting to the texture of the road surface
- Molecular adhesion at the interface between the tyre rubber and the road surface
Slick tyres can provide far more traction than grooved tyres on dry roads, but typically have far less traction than grooved tyres under wet conditions. Wet roads severely diminish the traction because of aquaplaning due to water trapped between the tyre contact area and the road surface. Grooved tyres are designed to remove water from the contact area through the grooves, thereby maintaining traction even in wet conditions.
Since there is no tread pattern, slick tyre tread does not deform much under load. The reduced
Drag racing slicks
The first drag racing slick was developed by M&H Tires (Marvin & Harry Tires) in the early 1950s. It was the only company in the world that produced and sold original drag racing tyres.
Drag racing slicks vary in size, from slicks used on motorcycles to very wide ones used on "top fuel" dragsters. For "closed wheel" cars, often the car must be modified merely to account for the size of the slick, raising the body on the rear springs for the height of narrower slicks, or replacing the rear wheel housings with very wide "tubs" and narrowing the
"Wrinkle Wall" slicks are now specifically designed for the special requirements of drag racing, being constructed in such a way as to allow the sidewall to be twisted by the torque applied at launch, softening the initial start and thus reducing the chances of breaking traction. As speed builds, the
Cheater slicks
Since completely slick tyres are outlawed on most roads due to their inability to handle wet pavement, the "cheater slick" became a popular item in the hot rod world in the 1960s; a typical slick type tyre, but engraved with the absolute minimum amount of tread grooves required to satisfy legal requirements. Since then, however, tyre development has progressed greatly, so that today's hot rod street cars typically use wide, grooved tyres which perform better than the slicks of the past; while the cheater slicks available today, both for nostalgic appearance of street cars and for competition use in classes where legal street tyres are required, have followed their own line of development, diverging from true slick tyre construction to become a distinct tyre design in themselves.
R compound tyres (grooved slicks)
The development in cheaper slick technology has affected the development of tyres for racing series other than drag racing as well. When other forms of auto racing similarly instituted classes which require DOT approved street tyres, some manufacturers similarly began to market tyres which superficially resembled their high performance street tyres, but with the least tread pattern permissible and with very soft, sticky rubber, intended specifically for competition because the soft tread would wear too quickly for street use. These became known as R compound tyres. With additional years of progress, this class of tyre has followed its own line of development, to the point where they have little in common with true street tyres of the same brand. This has led to new classes of racing which require not only DOT approval, but also a minimum
Formula One
In
Bicycle tyres
In contrast, many
See also
References
- ^ "V-STEEL SMOOTH TREAD-MS" (PDF). Bridgestone. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
- ^ "Why a Smooth Tread on Road Tires?". Michelin. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
- ^ Jobst Brandt. "Tires with smooth tread". Retrieved 2012-01-31.
- ^ Christopher Neiger (22 December 2008). "Why doesn't NASCAR race in the rain?". HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
NASCAR tires have a completely smooth tread.
- ^ "Slick - Motorsport Tyres | Pirelli". www.pirelli.com.
- ^ a b Editor, Gemma Hatton-Deputy (January 2, 2020). "Tyre grip".
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has generic name (help) - ^ Ernst, Kurt (August 12, 2013). "Montjuic, 1971: When Formula 1 met racing slicks". www.hemmings.com.
- ^ "Formula 1 Technical Regulation changes for 1998". grandprix.com. 6 January 1997. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "A beginner's guide to the 2009 rule changes". Formula1.com. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
- ^ "Cycle Tyres and Tubes". www.sheldonbrown.com.
External links
- Racing Technology; Street-legal slicks
- R-compound "street" tires
- How tyre rubber works; racecar-engineering.com