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  • Writer's pictureSophia Dee

Understanding your Car's Tyre Tread in Detail

Tyres are the most spoken about but highly misunderstood parts when it comes to components on a racecar. There are multiple theories on how to alter various features of the tyre to make the vehicle faster but in given situations, there is only so much a tyre can do.


It requires a lot of time, experience and application to understand how these factors add up and what different alterations can be done to maximize the usage. These tyres undergo various track testing and racing to achieve the understanding required. Tyres come in various sizes, types and build so they can help maximize traction according to needs.

WHAT IS TRACTION?


The friction that exists between the tyres of your vehicle and the road surface is specifically called traction. This occurs mainly due to the weight of the car working and pressing these tyres against the road surface. Traction is necessary to stop, decelerate, accelerate and change the direction of the vehicle. Traction is one of the most crucial factors without which your car is prone to skidding decreasing safety and control. Higher traction between the driving surface and wheel is extremely desirable as it facilitates better acceleration, braking and cornering all while offering heightened control.


FACTORS AFFECTING TRACTION


Tyres make friction due to contact between the surface and wheels and this will increase with the increase in vertical load on the tyre and in such cases aerodynamic downforce works really well. Monitoring the tyre temperature and pressure also ensures the tyres contact patch is equally loaded and increase traction.

  • When the weight and forces acting on the tyre increase the traction increases.This weight shifts as the car move from acting on the rear wheels when accelerating.

  • A racing car tyre has a high friction coefficient to help with cornering at unbelievable speeds.

The build, construction and different additional features of Tyres Beoley help increase traction without affecting speed but there are other contributing factors that we as drivers have control over.

Optimizing these settings under different circumstances can help maximize the traction.

  • Camber angle (differs on the basis of suspension type)

  • Tyre pressure and temperature

  • Toe settings (depends on rear suspension type)

  • Roll steer and axle squareness at the rear

  • Bump steer at the front DOWN FORCE IS GOOD

The increase in vertical load leads to more grip and traction. However, it is to be noted that the increase although proportional is not equal. The traction increases but not as much as the vertical load. This is where aerodynamic down force is of help in the case of race cars.

Aerodynamic down force is good because it does not increase the car weight but it helps increase the traction. It helps reduce aero-lift at exceptionally high speeds which could literally make your car fly away losing control. Down-force helps increase traction when cornering, braking and accelerating for racing vehicles although it might cost a little in the case of a straight-line course.

WEIGHT TRANSFER


When the entire contact patch of the tyre is not equally loaded you reduce the effect of traction that the tyre offers. Cheap Tyres Bromsgrove come with optimized tyres that exert a constant force on the road surface. When the whole contact patch of each tyre works to its maximum potential we need to make sure all four tyres work well together creating optimum traction for the vehicle on the whole.

The car’s balance changes when cornering and throughout the drive as the centre of gravity changes and understanding how the car works you need to change your driving style. More weight means more grip and shifting weight means the overall grip also changes.

A tyre that loses weight will lose traction quick but a tyre gaining weight and traction will be comparatively slower. This leads to a net reduction in the maximum achievable traction and to stop that from happening we need to reduce weight transfer by keeping the centre of gravity low.

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