A few hundred kilos of aerodynamic downthrust helps a lot on the faster corners. With that, they can get 2G or more of sideways grip.
They also use a very soft and grippy compound which wouldn't last more than a week or two in normal road use, if that.
When Ford introduced the Escort XR3 the engineers said no to low profile tyres as a waste of time. However VW introduced the Golf GTi with low profile tyres. So when the XR3i came out Ford marketing insisted it had low profile tyres because with gas filled shock absorbers it sounded very sexy. I had that straight from the horses mouth.
Fredxx has pointed out the possible reason - touring cars have big wheels to get the big brakes in.
F1 cars of course have inboard brakes, so don't need big wheels, so can afford to have a decent amount of rubber.
But obviously a marketing man can use "it's just like a touring car" as a sales aid, but even a moron in a hurry isn't going to mistake a Golf GTI for an F1 car.
Andy
Standards for what's "obvious" vary. For example, many people would have thought it was obvious that was sarcasm after he went on to say F1 tyres aren't low profile.
Oh No they don't
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One reason for rotation (shift within the carcase) belongs to the days of c= rossplies, but it can still be worth doing front-back swaps for cars that a= re particularly heavy for wear on one end =96 usually big Citroens or Type = R Hondas, which both hammer their front tyres yet don't seem to use the rea= rs. Watch out for handed rotation of course.
OP - your tyre is knackered. Photograph everything and try it on with the c= ouncil. If nothing else, they might prioritise the pothole.
You may have a point. Care to explain to us how they keep the things cool when they have to git inside 15 inch wheels?
Andy
there are degrees of "Cool" as they run at 1000+ degrees Celsius and need to be at around 600 degrees Celsius before they even start to work properly so only a small duct is needed on a fast track.
Google 'brake ducts'
crossplies,=20
AIUI the main reason was differing wear patterns (centre versus outer edges= ). How a crossply wears is much more dependent on load than with radials, s= o they last better if used on both heavier and lighter ends of the car, rat= her than one end only.
ularly heavy for wear on one end =96 usually big Citroens or Type R Hondas,= which both hammer their front tyres yet don't seem to use the rears. Watc= h out for handed rotation of course.
how is direction of rotation a significant issue?
fatally so
ey might prioritise the pothole.
NT
particularly heavy for wear on one end ? usually big Citroens or Type R Hondas, which both hammer their front tyres yet don't seem to use the rears. Watch out for handed rotation of course.
Some tyres have an asymmetrical tread pattern, which clears the water away better if rotated in the correct direction. The recommended direction is marked on the sidewall on these tyres.
Some tyres are also optimised for either directional stability or traction, but that's mainly on large commercial vehicles. Swapping front and rear tyres in this case is not recommended.
Some tyres are designed to work properly in only one rotational direction. So you can't do a diagonal swap only same side front to back.
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