UKKid35

While I'm glad there's been some discussion about tyre brands, no one has commented on the ease with which I managed to wear a flat spot on the fronts when I locked the wheels. Has anyone else trashed a pair so easily?

heinrich

Kid, any tyre will do that except the ones that are so hard you wouldn't want them anyway.

fabric

If you watched the European GP, you saw that even one of the best drivers with the most advanced tires and car can flat spot it, and the dramatic results that eventuated.

Heinrich, it seems that no hardness of compound would keep someone from flat-spotting. (?)

heinrich

Chris, harder tyres rub off less easily. Try to flat-spot your rubber mallet, versus flat-spotting an eraser .....

fabric

Wait, are you're saying that it will flat spot less, not that it won't flat spot period? I'm having a hard time seeing how you can't flat spot even the hardest compound. I'm fairly confident I can flat spot that mallet with some effort.

heinrich

Here's the whole discussion:

Short form:

heinrich

Hard tyres slip easily. Their compound is tougher also. Therefore they don't rub off as easily, you just slide around on them. Soft tyres make their grip by giving the road surface a little of themselves at every brake, acceleration or direction change.

fabric

Ok, we're on the same page Heinrich, I just mis-understood what you wrote.

Daniel Dudley

What I would like to know is who shaves tires down to re round them. I know it used to be quite popular to shave tires for some types of racing, and now that many cars have two sizes of tire you can't rotate for even wear.