Smooth is better unless it's raining. And even then, the deep groves are only needed when it's very wet. Car tyres have to cover the 100% case of water.
The tires above look like they are just extremely over used, which has its own danger, namely failing.
Have you heard of summer tires, snow tires or all seasons?
The tires on my car can only be used in temps above 45° and honestly at 45-50° it’s extremely sketchy until they get warmed up. They’re also terrible in the rain and really only meant for warm weather and dry days.
You also wouldn’t want to run full snow tires in the summer.
So passenger cars absolutely have tires meant for different conditions
I am fully aware that passenger cars can and do use season-appropriate tires.
I am saying that sanding your tires down to be bald is a great way to shorten your lifespan. Normal consumer-grade non-track-use tires are categorically always supposed to have tread. If they don’t, you need new tires.
Yeah, I don’t think anyone was saying bald or sanded down tires would be good. If the tires were supposed to be groved but no longer are, those tires are WAY beyond their expected life and need to be changed. The rubber compounds are different than actual slicks and bald tires will never provide adequate traction even with the increased contact patch. Slick tires are completely different.
ackschually, F1 cars don't have traction control, stability control or even ABS, so they're really fricking hard to drive in the best of circumstances, nevermind in the rain on slicks. Now GT3 is a class where pro drivers drive some really sick cars with all the electronics