why do car tires have tread/ grooves?

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why do car tires have tread/ grooves?

In: Engineering

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

The chief reason is: they channel water away from the tire so the tread can make solid contact with the road. Otherwise with smooth tires (known as ‘slicks’ in the auto world) even a tiny amount of water would be like driving on sheer ice.

Race cars, particularly like you see on the Indy 500, have slicks, for maximum traction. But that’s why the track must be absolutely dry when they race.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Basically for water displacement.

When you hit a puddle the water has nowhere to go but under. Had you a bald tire the car would not be floating on that water.

The grooves give that water a place to go and diverts it safely.

It’s the reason f1 cars have flat tires and we don’t. A flat surface gives the most traction, but you would die under normal circumstances if we had flat tires.