Have you ever noticed the F1 car tyres have no grip at all and look bald even if they are new? They look completely different from the regular tyres we use on our passenger cars. Is this only different in F1 and regular car tyres, Shepshed? Let’s find out in this blog post.
Manufacturing Process
All those materials are mixed at high temperature in what looks like a massive blender. This compound is then rolled into sheets and wrapped around a circular drum to mould it into shape. A layer of fabric, usually Kevlar or polyester, called ply, will be added to the mould to reinforce the inner face of the tyre.
Strips of metal wires called beads are then laid at the edges to strengthen and keep the tyre attached to the wheel rim. This structure forms the carcass that the tread is later attached to.
For the tread, the rubber compound is combined with more layers of ply to reinforce the face of the tyre to limit deformation at speed. The tread layer is then pressed onto the carcass to form the overall tyre.
The final stage is for the combined tyre to be placed in a press machine that cures the tyre into its final shape and then adds the tread pattern using pressurised steam. The pressurised steam in the machine causes vulcanisation, which is a chemical reaction that transforms the rubber from a weak, sticky substance into the elastic, stronger material that forms the working tyre.
Testing and Development
So really, the only difference in the manufacturing process is that the F1 tyre will have more reinforcing materials to help them cope with the higher loads that they experiences.
The indoor testing consists of pushing the tyres to the limit of F1 to make sure they hold up under pressure. They fit the tyre to a machine called a dynamometer. This runs a tyre on a sandpaper-like roller with a known grip level so they can measure the grip throughout acceleration, braking, and cornering.
They run at speeds of 280 miles an hour, subjected to temperatures over 300 degrees and lateral loads of a thousand kilograms for 20 times longer than they’re expected to run during a race.
While road tyres are tested in similar ways, these tests are not as extreme. A dynamometer is used to test the speeds and loads that the tyres can take like an F1 tyre, but unlike an F1 tyre, the tyre is tested on how they will cope with all sorts of weather conditions, especially in the wet and snow, alongside stopping distances and how much noise they make to make sure they are suitable for a wide range of vehicles.
Price Difference Justification
One model of road tyre can be used on anything from a small hatchback to a large SUV. The F1 tyre is a specialist bit of kit, researched by specialists using specialist equipment, and they all cost money.
Cutting Open the Tyres
So I’m going to go outside now to open up both tyres and look at what’s inside. We’re going to break it down, inspect the tread depth on both tyres, examine the construction, and identify the materials used inside, allowing for a thorough comparison between the two tyres.
Visual Comparison
Okay, so let’s compare these two tyres now and see what the difference actually is. I guess first of all, the first thing to look at is the difference between the tread. You can see the steel material in here on both of the tyres, but the tread on the road car rubber is much deeper than it is on the F1 rubber.
Now this is, of course, a used F1 tyre, so that it will have reduced the thickness somewhat, but there’s still plenty more meat on the road tyre. I guess the other big difference here is just the profile of the tyre. There’s a lot more meat here on the side coming up to the shoulder of the tyre.
As we come around the side, it’s really interesting to see how thin the shoulder is on the F1 rubber going into the sidewall. It’s only four or five millimetres thick here compared to the big chunky road tyre. That makes sense because the road tyre probably has to endure being driven over bumps, sometimes into curbs, over potholes, so you want it to be much thicker.
Whereas the racing circuit is, of course, much smoother. The F1 tyre will go through much more significant loads, but in a much more consistent way.
Once we get down to the bead of the tyre, yes, it is a little bit bigger on the F1 rubber, but actually it’s not that much bigger or thicker than it is on the road car tyre. So quite a few differences between the profile and the shape of the Cheap tyres Leicester, but maybe not quite as much as you might think.
