Sticky Tires + Actual Gravel = Bad?

Hi everyone,

I'm going to be doing an autocross this weekend and since it's a bit further away from me I'm considering taking a more "scenic route" the day before  and staying in the area for the night.  There's a good chance that I may end up one a gravel road or two in this adventure.

I have Direzza ZII Star Specs on the car for my track wheels, and I have neither the space inside the car really or the patience to parking lot swap them before the event starts.  I normally throw them on the car before I leave and drive to the event with them on.  it's not like they are full on track compound tires.  They can be street driven of course.

So here's my question, is it bad to drive tires like this on full on gravel?  

Is there any chance I could embed some of it on them?

This will be more then the average rocks I pick up driving on the road or in an autocross lot so that's the reason I'm concerned.

Bad for your paint maybe (they will pick up & throw rocks more than a crappy all season), but that's about it.

Having driven on gravel at 80-90 mph on sticky R compound tires I suspect you'll be fine.

ProDarwin said:

Bad for your paint maybe (they will pick up & throw rocks more than a crappy all season), but that's about it.

This. This is the only real concern.

Yep. By the time you get up to highway speed on pavement most all of the rocks will have been thrown by the tires.

A side benefit of the higher speed ratings on our performance tires is that they generally have stronger belts that are more resistant to rock punctures. You should be fine.

I live on a gravel road. I autox and I've had RE-71's, RS-3's and Rival-S's. I got full seasons + out of all of them. 

Most "soft" tires will not pick up that much until they get warm. Most of my DOT race tires will pick up some stones when cold but they won't imbed themselves in the rubber.  That only happens when they get hot, like just off the track after a 30 minute race hot.

I know very little about tires but my RE-71R's have seen a lot of gravel since they were on the car when I bought it. I've put 10k on them so far and they still look fine to me, other than being a little dusty.

Thanks everyone, sounds like I have nothing to worry about. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX0IkVMIHsA

Slicks.  Very soft slicks.

I have the Direzzas on my DD Miata and live on a gravel road. They pick up and spit out gravel a little more than all seasons, but I've never had damage or a wear issue.