Please discuss here all your remarks and pose your questions about all racing series, except Formula One. Both technical and other questions about GP2, Touring cars, IRL, LMS, ...
I think it is smaller because it is easier for the tire to cut through snow
I think another benefit is that the tires are smaller, so that means the contact patch is smaller so that means they can not go as fast as they could with a regular(less grip=slower times), but that is just my observation on that, could be wrong
Simon: Nils? You can close in now. Nils?
John McClane: [on the guard's phone] Attention! Attention! Nils is dead! I repeat, Nils is dead, ----head. So's his pal, and those four guys from the East German All-Stars, your boys at the bank? They're gonna be a little late.
Simon: [on the phone] John... in the back of the truck you're driving, there's $13 billon dollars worth in gold bullion. I wonder would a deal be out of the question?
John McClane: [on the phone] Yeah, I got a deal for you. Come out from that rock you're hiding under, and I'll drive this truck up your ass.
I use gravel tyres for racing and on slower, twistier events the thin tyres slice into the corners better, at the cost of stability under speed, however thick tyres tend to almost aquaplane over the mud at the corners but provide far better stability under speed.
I bet ice tyres are the same.
Murphy's 9th Law of Technology:
Tell a man there are 300 million stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.
Ice tires are usually skinnies because there is often snow covering the hard pack of snow and ice. The advantage of the ice tires being skinny is that it allows the studs to get to the ice, greatly enhancing the available grip. Snow tires are not as skinny because they lack studs so there is a more aggressive tread pattern to enhance the grip and claw through the snow. Here in the US, in the Rally America Championship they are not allowed to use studded tires and they slip and slide all over compared to say the WRC cars in Sweden with their skinny studded ice tires. I've had a close call or two with cars under hard braking when I've went to the Sno*Drift Rally in northern Michigan in years past because of that rule!
"Some people will tell you that slow is good - and it may be, on some days - but I am here to tell you that fast is better." - Hunter S. Thompson
