Quote:
Originally Posted by tt82
In motorsport, wet weather tyres as well as having a different tread pattern, are usually made from a softer compound. With normal road tyres, winter tyres are also a different tread compound, usually softer than summer tyres, so there most likely is some merit to the statement.
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I was specific v-a-v aquaplaning which is a total loss of mechanical grip such that the tread is
no longer in contact with the road. In that context tread compound's irrelevant. That was in response to the statement made.
In the real world most of the time tyres are in contact with tarmac, no aquaplaning so tread material is important in cold weather in particular, to maintain flexibility and enhance grip.
In motorsport the dynamic is that a softer compound is specced in order that the tyre retains some heat via mechanical friction and compound hysteresis and thus grips better, being closer to optimum operating temperature when exposed to the cooling effect of wet conditions.