"Slick" or "tread". What is more effective on the track?

Among professional racers and track enthusiasts, you can often hear "improved time by 1 second". For an ordinary car enthusiast, this may seem like empty bragging, but it's not. The fact is that racers mean not so much time, but distance. If you've been to a race at least once, you know that a second is a tangible distance. Therefore, it's worth determining that 1 second is really a lot on a racing track.

Now, what's interesting is this. Which tire will show the best time on the track - a slick or a treaded tire?

If it's a slick, how significant will the time gap be?

The British online portal "Tyrereviews" conducted a test where they compared tires on a Hyundai I30 car on a track, and here are the results they got for lap times.

• Pirelli PZero PZ4 – 1:38
• Pirelli PZero TROFEO R – 1:34
• Pirelli Slick DHB – 1:31

Considering that the Pirelli PZ4 is essentially a civilian tire, the 7-second gap is understandable. At the same time, the gap with the professional TROFEO tire from the slick is not so great – 3 seconds.

Thus, the Pirelli TROFEO shows its strong side, because despite the fact that the lag is still there, this tire is allowed to be operated on public roads, while tires without a pattern like Pirelli Slick cannot be used.

The time gap of the slick tire is also quite explainable. The tread pattern is necessary for removing water from the contact patch. While the maximum amount of rubber provides maximum grip, it's pointless to compete with tires like slicks on dry asphalt.