Tyres question

[jknights]

We have seen time and time again in the last few seasons how fragile the Pirelli tyres are when touched by a front wing or some other section of car.
If a rear tyre deflates this usually results in a huge loss of time while the driver drives back to the pits with the associated tyre debris being thrown all over the track on some occasions.
In addition on many occasions the tyre debris damage the underside of the car requiring it to be retired.


A few questions:
1. Why dont they make the tyre sidewalls thicker.
2. Why dont they put a compound in the tyre that acts like the repair sealing compounds in modern cars in the event of a small puncture so that the car can be driven back to the pits without further damage to the car.
3. In such a high tech sport surely they must be able to find a solution that is even better than those above.

[FW17]

Or use run flat tyre? Are the banned? Can runflats be run at 200kmph?

[luke!]

A few questions:
1. Why dont they make the tyre sidewalls thicker.
2. Why dont they put a compound in the tyre that acts like the repair sealing compounds in modern cars in the event of a small puncture so that the car can be driven back to the pits without further damage to the car.
3. In such a high tech sport surely they must be able to find a solution that is even better than those above.

I think that the solutions above would affect the tyre performance, it seems to me that the cons are more than the pros. In my opinion the "touches" are not so frequent as to justify the introduction of those innovations.

Or use run flat tyre? Are the banned?

Using run flat tyres would mean to have stiffer sidewalls, it would require softer suspension, I guess.

Can runflats be run at 200kmph?

As far as I know, yes. The Bridgestone POTENZA S001, for example, has a Y (up to 300 km/h) as speed rating.

[mrluke]

The tyres are a spec part, nobody is allowed to experiment with new ideas. The FIA tell pirelli what they want and pirelli make it.

PS thicker sidewalls would not have influenced the spa incident as rosberg punctured the middle of hamilton's tyre.

[strad]

All those would add unsprung weight

[FW17]

All those would add unsprung weight

How much will a inner rim of carbon fiber weigh?

[strad]

More than a Pirelli you can wad up in your hand.
Unsprung weight, wheels and tires is measured in ounces

[langwadt]

All those would add unsprung weight

How much will a inner rim of carbon fiber weigh?

more than nothing and why be even a fraction slower 99% of the time just so you can be slightly faster the 1% of the time
where you have a puncture and isn't going to win anyway

[Tim.Wright]

the problem isn't the weight. Its the fact that run-flats are not "race-flats". You can drive on them slowly but you can't maneuver on the limit like you could with an inflated tyre. So even with these tyres, if you get a flat your race is practically destroyed because you can't maintain race pace.

[Miguel]

More than a Pirelli you can wad up in your hand.
Unsprung weight, wheels and tires is measured in ounces

Very, very, OT: I've heard astrohysicists tend to use the cgs system a lot. That is, centimeters, grams and seconds for stuff that happens over millions of km, on masses well over trillions (european) of kg and in over a million years. Why they don't stick to SI, I don't know, I'm not one of them.

[jknights]

Or use run flat tyre? Are the banned? Can runflats be run at 200kmph?

http://www.n-mav.com/wp-content/uploads ... ews-17.jpg
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/200 ... -tires.jpg

Nice design.
Maybe this could be sold to motor manufacturers as another way to increase their profits (as if they werent big enough already). That way they can charge you even more for a car as it has 8 wheels.

[FrukostScones]

they already made the front wing "thicker" to reduce punturing by the front wing... was it in 2009 or 2010?
only "runflat tyres" in autosports I know were those mousse tyres used in the WRC...