mayf,
you are addressing the real problem for 21st Century LSR cars.
When I first went in 1972, there were only 3 records over 300 mph.
Back then a really fast car was one that ran over 200 mph and you could
go several years before a car would even make one pass at over 300.
Back then, very, very few cars had the power to spin the tires at over
200 mph so tire destruction due to wheel spin was not considered a problem.
Today I see tire destruction as a hugh, giant, major, severe safety problem
that we (SCTA) can ignore until Motorsports Insurance Services decides
to require some impossible tire standards.
I don't think anyone wants that to happen.
So my question at this point is what are the factors involved in traction
at Bonneville that can be addressed to improve traction.
NOTE: I'm wondering only about traction, not controllability.
I see two types of traction available between a rubber tire and the salt.
1) Simple sliding friction as between two smooth pieces of wood.
2) Type 'X' friction as between a wood rasp and a smooth piece of wood.
The LSR tires I've seen are all #1 which leads me to wonder if a #2 kind of
tire could be built for 400 mph. Like a narrow, 6-8" wide, Sprint Car tire??
If we had TC, we could try softer compound tires, that always worked on
dirt.
I have seen cars add weight and eliminate wheel spin but, to me, that's the
last thing I would do. But it does work. More about this later.
Next, we need to make sure the rubber meets the road.
Bryan
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