I posted this on the landracing.com forum -- and I'll try it here,
too, to see if there's a good answer to the quandary.
"I've got this nagging thought about the size of the contact patch -
maybe someone will tell me if it's right or wrong.
That is, the contact patch -- the number of square inches of tire
that's contacting the ground -- would be a function of tire pressure
and the weight that's on those square inches. As an example: 40 psi
and 1000 pounds would need 25 square inches of contact patch. A five
inch wide tire would need to have five inches on the surface -- a ten
inch wide tire would need 2 1/2 inches. The weight/pressure would
dictate the amount of rubber in contact with the ground, not the width
of the tire. Want more contact patch? Run lower tire pressures, not
different tire sizes.
Okay -- that's the math. If it's not the way it really works -- why
not?"
Jon Wennerberg
Tall guy with moustache
and a pair of 2 Club hats
_______________________________________________
Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
Land-speed mailing list
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/land-speed
|