FH6 Tire Compound Guide — Which Tires for Road, Dirt & Drag?
Applies to: All cars | PI impact: Medium to High | Affects: Grip, heat management, top speed | Most important: Match compound to surface type
Tire compound is the single most impactful upgrade in FH6 and the one people mess up most often. The right tires make a bad tune driveable. The wrong tires make a perfect tune undriveable. The tire menu gives you nine compounds and barely explains what any of them do. Here's what each compound actually does, backed by telemetry data.
Tire Compounds Compared
| Compound | Grip | PI Cost | Heat Tolerance | Best Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stock | 3/10 | 0 | Medium | Whatever the car came with |
| Street | 5/10 | Low (+8-12 PI) | High | Road (dry), light dirt |
| Sport | 7/10 | Medium (+15-25) | High | Road (dry/wet), most A-class builds |
| Semi-Slick | 9/10 | High (+25-40) | Low — overheats in 3-4 hard laps | Road (dry), S1/S2 circuit builds |
| Drag | 10/10 (launch) | High (+25-35) | Very low — one run, maybe two | Drag strip only |
| Drift | 2/10 (rear grip) | Low (+5-10) | High | Road (dry), drift zones |
| Off-Road | 6/10 (dirt) | Medium (+15-20) | High | Dirt, gravel |
| Off-Road Race | 8/10 (dirt) | High (+25-35) | Medium | Dirt, gravel, cross country |
| Rally | 6/10 road, 7/10 dirt | Medium (+15-25) | High | Mixed surface (road + dirt in same race) |
How to Choose — Decision Tree
Road only? → Sport tires for A class and below (forgiving heat management). Semi-slick for S1 and above (extra grip needed for power, but overheats in 3-4 laps). Dirt/gravel? → Off-Road for B class and below, Off-Road Race for A class and above. Never use road tires on dirt — you give away 2-3 seconds per lap. Mixed surface? → Rally tires only. They compromise both road and dirt grip but it's the best compromise available. Drag racing? → Drag tires, but they heat-cycle. First run is best, third run is basically street tires. Drifting? → Drift tires for dedicated cars. Sport tires if you drift sometimes but also race.
PI Efficiency — Tires Before Everything
A car with 500 hp and semi-slick tires beats a car with 800 hp and stock tires on any track with corners. The lap time improvement per PI point from tires is higher than any other upgrade category. Build priority order: Tires → Weight Reduction → Suspension → Aero → Power (forced induction last).
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| No grip off the line | Upgrade to Sport or Semi-Slick tires — stock tires can't handle any significant power |
| Tires overheat after 3 laps | Switch from Semi-Slick to Sport compound, or reduce negative camber to lower tire temps |
| Sliding everywhere on dirt | You're on road tires. Switch to Off-Road or Rally compound immediately. |
| Drag tires feel worse on 2nd run | Drag tires heat-cycle. Cool 30 seconds between runs, or switch to Sport for consistency. |