Designing A Tyre To Handle 1000bhp of Power And 2000lb Ft of Torque

electric racing car will not only change the sport - they also will push the boundaries of tire technology

Tyres are black and round, right? Well, of course there's more to it than that, but when I got chatting with a friend last weekend about the likelihood of all-electric rallycross taking off as a sport, the challenges presented to tire manufacturers by motorsport Became ever more apparent - and the solutions they develop ever more relevant to all of us.

The theory, being pursued by senior folk at Volkswagen and Peugeot, is that rallycross is the perfect form of motorsport to showcase electric cars. The races are short and spaced out throughout a day, so the batteries do not need to be massive and can be regularly charged, and the racing is hugely spectacular and therefore a great showcase for the technology.

As such, they are lobbying the rule makers to change regulations and make it a reality. It's a controversial move that has many purists up in arms - not least because of the risk such a formula would pose to the noisy, flame-spitting delights of today's supercars rallycross.

Conventionally powered supercars already pump out around 700bhp with 1000lb ft of torque. But my friend, who knows a thing or two about this, speculated that an optimized electric rallycross car could be capable of 1000bhp and 2000lb ft of torque, all of the which could be available from the moment the green light flicks on at the start of a race.

Such are the advances in electric motors and battery technology that he reckoned developing the car would be are relatively easy - but the challenge would lie in developing tires that could handle the power, and especially cling to the wheel rim while trying to lay all that performance on the road.

The key to it all is the tire bead, a composite loop that locks the tire on to the wheel to Prevent it from slipping off. Complex stuff, and quite an eye-opener if you Consider all tires as being black and round. Forgive the layman's explanation, but roughly speaking the bead includes a steel wire loop, filler and protection for the tire and sidewall - plus something known as a flipper, the which holds the bead in place.

It's an ultra-competitive area of ​​tire technology, and nobody is about to spill Reviews their secrets. But it's clear that there are answers out there that could be applied to the challenges of electric rallycross from other motorsport divisions, none more so than Formula 1.

Today, Pirelli makes tires that stay on the rims while enduring the huge demands of being shod on 900bhp Formula 1 cars. And while Pirelli has the F1 contract, there's no shortage of other tire manufacturers who would like to have it. As daunting as the demands may sound, tire manufacturers have, to date, come up with the answers posed by grand prix racing. In electric rallycross, it would surely be the same - so a tire suitable for handling 1000bhp and 2000lb ft on asphalt and gravel could well Become a reality.

And the knock-on benefit to ordinary Motorists? According to Pirelli, you do not need to drive a Bugatti Chiron to benefit from the road tire developed advances in racing. Its recently relaunched P Zero tire, designed for sports cars and luxury saloons, has new underlayer compounds that are designed to improve handling and rolling resistance, innovative polymers to improve wet and dry grip and a new tread pattern with deeper longitudinal grooves to help resist aquaplaning ,

It also has - you guessed it - new bead technology, derived from lessons learned in F1. While the challenge is not so much about sticking the tire to the rim, keeping the tire rigidly attached Allows around the bead area of ​​the tire to transmit steering forces more Directly to the road, offering improved steering response and feel.

So while electric rallycross cars may Provoke as much fear as excitement Among purists, the knock-on benefits of taking on and conquering new challenges such could well be enjoyed by us all.

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