Are the dry tyres directional now?

[PlatinumZealot]

I can't help but notice that the dry tyres have more markings on them this GP. Am I late with this?
Look on the green R. How come? Is there something we can't see? like under the top layer of the tyre?

[Jersey Tom]

I can't help but notice that the dry tyres have more markings on them this GP. Am I late with this?
Look on the green R. How come? Is there something we can't see? like under the top layer of the tyre?

I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. Doesn't take much to make a slick "directional."

[ESPImperium]

Yup. They ,BMW Sauber, threw a set the wrong side i think it was in Quali in Malaysia, that made the car undrivable with masses of understeer, lost him about 1.5 seconds a lap.

[ISLAMATRON]

most radial tires are directional, if you look after the e in stone" you see the manufacterer marking the direction of tire rotation, yes that little arrow.

I remember once when a kid I got a tire patched for my mom, the young guy at the tire place put the tire on running in the wrong direction, after the tire already having about 20K miles on it, that damn tire blew on me just as I got onto the highway and got up to 60mph. Full delamination, tore up the front fender. Now I watch the tire techs like a hawk whenever I get some new rubber or any tire work done.

[Jersey Tom]

most radial tires are directional, if you look after the e in stone" you see the manufacterer marking the direction of tire rotation, yes that little arrow.

I remember once when a kid I got a tire patched for my mom, the young guy at the tire place put the tire on running in the wrong direction, after the tire already having about 20K miles on it, that damn tire blew on me just as I got onto the highway and got up to 60mph. Full delamination, tore up the front fender. Now I watch the tire techs like a hawk whenever I get some new rubber or any tire work done.

Tire won't go down like that because of directionality. Sounds like they did a terrible job of patching and it had no air in it.

[tok-tokkie]

I would be extremely surprised if any car tyres on general sale were directional like that because then you could not swap wheels from the left to right side of the car (& vice versa).

Motorcycle tyres do have a direction arrow. What is interesting is if you fit a rear tyre to the front wheel then the arrow must point the wrong way. Here I am talking about Adventure bikes (go on gravel, sand & mud). It is to do with the tread clearing properties of the tyre so the back needs to clear under power whereas the front needs to clear under braking so the tyre needs to be fitted the 'wrong' way when used on the wrong end of the bike.

[Scuderia_Russ]

Agreed Jersey Tom, sounds like an inferior repair to me. And the 195 50 15's on my Escort GTI are directional. Both our Avon and Dunlops at work race tyres are also btw.

[ISLAMATRON]

most radial tires are directional, if you look after the e in stone" you see the manufacterer marking the direction of tire rotation, yes that little arrow.

I remember once when a kid I got a tire patched for my mom, the young guy at the tire place put the tire on running in the wrong direction, after the tire already having about 20K miles on it, that damn tire blew on me just as I got onto the highway and got up to 60mph. Full delamination, tore up the front fender. Now I watch the tire techs like a hawk whenever I get some new rubber or any tire work done.

Tire won't go down like that because of directionality. Sounds like they did a terrible job of patching and it had no air in it.

It had air in it, I checked it myself before and it still held air after it delaminated on the highway. I am pretty sure it was because of the directionality, and I have seen it on other peoples car since then.

[ringo]

The thing is these are slicks, not the treaded one we have at home. So its funny that they are directional. My guess is on a microscopic level the tire is suppose to wear of in a certain direction?

[ISLAMATRON]

The thing is these are slicks, not the treaded one we have at home. So its funny that they are directional. My guess is on a microscopic level the tire is suppose to wear of in a certain direction?

it has to do with the construction and the direction the plies of the tire are oriented and how they are overlapped.

[RacingManiac]

I would be extremely surprised if any car tyres on general sale were directional like that because then you could not swap wheels from the left to right side of the car (& vice versa).

Actually its quite common...Most cheaper tires tend to be directional in that you mount one face out regardless left or right, but once you go to higher end, if not the construction of the tire it would at least be the groove cut that you have to mount them in the direction of rotation. So when you swap tires for rotation you actually would have to dismount them from the wheels....

[tok-tokkie]

I would be extremely surprised if any car tyres on general sale were directional like that because then you could not swap wheels from the left to right side of the car (& vice versa).

Actually its quite common...Most cheaper tires tend to be directional in that you mount one face out regardless left or right, but once you go to higher end, if not the construction of the tire it would at least be the groove cut that you have to mount them in the direction of rotation. So when you swap tires for rotation you actually would have to dismount them from the wheels....

Yes. I realised how wrong my post was later last night.

[DaveKillens]

In Formula One, each wheel and tire has to act and deal with different forces and stresses. Thus, each corner's tires are specific to that corner. Although they may appear similar externally, they are very different.

[The Thorn]

Maybe a bit low scale, but I have raced with RC cars, using rubber tyres.
When I had a new set of rubber, I haven't got a direction choise. But after I took them for a few laps, I could not swap left and right (making them role in another direction) directly. They needed a few laps before they got up to the same grip as before. I think it is because of the way they wear in a maner they are used when putting on power. I could understand that they wear different, because of he load they get under accelerating and braking.
I mention this because the tyres in the picture don't seem to be brandnew.

Looking at F1, which is a class with a lot more depending on it, hey won't waste performance by using a tyre the other way around as they are ment to be used, or as they are used before.

Also, they can see the wear a lot better if they keep a set of tyres for a given wheel. And if they mark it with a very bright paint, or if they just label them, that does not really say if it is more or less important to keep them roling one way.

[Professor]

I would be extremely surprised if any car tyres on general sale were directional like that because then you could not swap wheels from the left to right side of the car (& vice versa).

Actually its quite common...Most cheaper tires tend to be directional in that you mount one face out regardless left or right, but once you go to higher end, if not the construction of the tire it would at least be the groove cut that you have to mount them in the direction of rotation. So when you swap tires for rotation you actually would have to dismount them from the wheels....

Yes. I realised how wrong my post was later last night.

Not only are they directional, but the road tires on my BMW 135 are different sizes front/back. So, I cannot use any tire in any position other than the original position.

Technically, this all makes perfect sense based on the posts above. Each corner in a sophisticated arrangement needs a unique tire. I have different staggers and directional requirements which means I need to buy four at a time as a set.

Spare? BMW provides no spare because of the run-flats! I am not yet sold on this concept, but I bought in to the idea. Hum..............?