For many of us, running tyres as fresh as possible is the key to better lap times, and improved tyre performance is an essential factor in making this happen. However, if you’re not careful about what your car does on the track, you could be sabotaging those hard-earned new rubber parts.
Tyre wear is caused by several factors but mainly excessive heat and abrasive track surfaces. These cause small chunks of your tyre to break away over time. This results in fewer grips at the contact patch, so we must sort out any problems before they arise – especially with race compound tyres which can explode with excessive load or heat (turbo cars!). The balance between grip and durability is what every driver aims for with their All Season Tyres Birmingham choice.
What Causes Tyre Wear?Â
Abrasive Track Surfaces:
Harsh grip levels like “green hell” combined with sharp or coarse gravel traps will cause severe wear over time (and adding extra loads into the suspension can seriously reduce tyre life). Make sure any surface changes are noted by safety crews and get them smoothed out before races.
Excessive Heat:Â
If your tyres reach a temperature range where they start to become soft and sticky, the chances of abrasion and tear (which causes excessive wearing) skyrocket. This happens most during quick changes in track temp, so if it’s cold outside but hot on track, have your tyres at the proper pressure to maximize grip.
Extreme Driving Techniques:
Suppose you find yourself unnecessarily sliding or drifting around corners with loads of speed or slipping your clutch uphill. In that case, you are generating unnecessary heat and wearing your tyres out for no good reason. Controlled use of slip angles is what keeps tyre life pretty much infinite – it’s when we start pushing our tyres too hard that problems arise!
Driving During Tyre Stints:
Some tracks will require a mandatory pit stop mid-race which can be annoying enough without having to do your entire stint on half-worn rubber. This means every lap counts as far as tyre wear is concerned, so make sure you’ve got the minimum pressures set (lots of players use 0.5 bars for this). And that your tyres are in good condition if you want to stay on top of your game.
Bad Driving Habits:
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen drivers swerve across the road mid-corner just because they’re too lazy to drive around a cone, but it’s ridiculous! If you see an obstacle ahead of you, slow down and take it like a grown-up so you can save your tyres from useless wear. Squealing brakes or accelerating at the wrong time will also cause damage which is why we should always try to be smooth with our driving inputs so we can keep our tyres fresh for when we need them!
What can we do about it?
Well, there are all sorts of preventive measures we can take to reduce any tyre wear, but the places you should focus on will always be warm-up laps, pit stops, and cornering, so here’s a basic breakdown:
 Warm-up Laps:Â
While tyres are cold, they grab best for ultimate grip, so if you don’t do an initial lap or two at reduced speed to get them up to their optimal temperature (and bleed pressure down again), then expect some premature tyre wear.
Pit Stops:
When entering the pits, take it easy! If you roll into that box with your foot flat to the floor, you’re asking for trouble as that sudden demand will cause excessive heat and traction loss, which will eat away at your tyres. Cornering: If you find yourself needing to drive around the outside of corners, keep your inside wheel as straight as possible and avoid accelerating too much.
What about Regenerative Braking?
Regent braking isn’t just for show – there’s real grip potential under those discs, but it’s all about how you use them. The more you reduce speed with regenerative braking (which is usually done by either easing off the throttle or using brake steering). The better deceleration force we can apply to each tyre for increased stopping power which keeps us further in control during cornering.
Some drivers don’t realize this and prefer the benefits of a standard brake set up which isn’t great. When it comes to saving your Tyres Birmingham from wear, braking with regent is the way forward, so add it now if you don’t have this in your setup already!
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