Something I've Never Understood
Conceptually, why is it...
That we spend scads of money on soft sticky tires, when a cheap hard compound tire could be mandated and used by all.
A reasonably priced nice-looking durable real racing tire that would keep eveyone on the same level playing field and save everyone lots and lots of money?
I have never understood why we play tire games at this level of the sport. Can someone explain the logic of it all for me?
Thanks,
Chris
Hard or Soft, they all cost the same
Most drivers want to have the increased grip of stickier tires. The key is to have a tire that is both durable and sticky. Hard to do, but it would be the best of both worlds. Having a tire that is durable but not sticky means more opportunity to spin out and damage your car. Of course it would put everyone on a level playing field, but then again, so does having a spec tire in a series. Kind of like what the F1000 Championship has done. They've got a spec tire that is sticky yet a 6 tire rule that limits your expense.
The unfortunate part is it doesn't matter if the tires are hard or soft, they all still cost around the same. Even if you wanted to try and get two weekends out of a set, the top guys are always going to go for new tires each weekend.
Mike
One thing that happens with hard tires
I was in a series that had spec tires that were very hard radials.
What everyone did was run insane amounts of negative camber to get at least some part of the tire to heat up. The outer edges essentially never touched the ground.
That setup didn't make the tires live any longer - they just worked better.