Well the other day i had a friend over and he asked me what was the difference between an auto-x/track slick and a drag slick? Besides the obvious size difference depending on what size tire you have, I honestly wasn't to sure myself what the difference was. I figured the rubber compound is probably different but besides that is there any other factors that put these two in completely different catagories?

 

A drag slick uses very soft sidewalls, to allow the tire to grab.

A track slick uses stiff sidewalls, to allow good cornering response.

There are other differences, compound, tread pattern (if any tread at all), but the most obvious difference is the sidewall stiffness which makes each tire terribly suited for the other use.

 

Oh ok, thanks for the help. He was thinking of using track slicks on is drag car but i figured there was a better reason why they are catagorized as track slicks.

 

they actually work pretty well as drag tires. the kumho 710 is on the back of a few 10 second road race corvettes at our local track. it's a road race tire and grabs great for dragging. sure, each has a better use but most road race tires don't make half bad drag tires. the other way is trickier, the only drag radial i know of that could be autocrossed is the nitto 555R, even it would not be something i would road race, the sidewall is too soft for the heat. autocross is easy, you just run a few more psi. i've actually seen a few fast auto-x sessions on those drag radials.

 

There are other differences, too.

Both autocross tires and road racing tires are designed with stiff sidewalls for maximum grip when turning. Autocross tires, such as the Hoosier A6, are very soft, so that they can grip well without the need for extensive warmup (and yeah, they wear extremely fast). Whereas road racing tires are designed so that they are most effective after one or two hot laps, which are needed to get them up to effective operating temperature.

Drag radials are designed for acceleration, rather than cornering. One of the design features is that the sidewalls are reinforced to allow the deformation which occurs with the use of very low tire pressures which are commonly used at the dragstrip to increase the size of the contact patch.

That's why each kind of tire is designed for a specific purpose. It doesn't mean you can't use one tire for another purpose, but it won't do as well as a tire designed specifically for that purpose will.

 

If you do decide to use a drag radial for auto-x purposes when conditions are wet make sure you allow the tires some time to warm up a bit. If you take the first corner expecting your tire to be at full performance level it may spell disaster. I had a friend hit a fence because he didn't take this into account.

 

Well the thing is he was thinking of using some avon tech-r which if i remember correctly is a road race tire on his car for a drag event. Well thanks for all the help and advice.