Man oh Man Allen
- I have no idea where you grew up and learned to drive but anyone that
thinks that wider tires perform better in the snow is asking for trouble.
Look at any snow tire anywhere and what do you find - A narrow tire with
an aggressive tread pattern. I am not talking about a worthless
"All-Weather" tire. I mean a real snow tire. A wider tire decreases the
weight to surface area of the tire. So that for the same weight car a
narrow tire has more of the weight on the tread than a wider tire. (PS I
also disagree with the concept that a wide tire of the same diameter has
the same contact patch than a narrow tire). This information is based on
reading, and personal experience. Try taking a RWD car with the factory
tires out in the snow. Take the same car with a wide "sport" tire in the
same snow. Wanna see the ass end in front of you real fast??? BTDT Wide
tires do not hold in the snow. Wanna go out in the boonies in the winter
to go hunting?? You will never get there in one of those 4x4's with the
fat tires. Unless you are talking balloon tires and that is a whole
'nutter concept of moving over the snow - not through it. Tread pattern
has more to do with the ability to move in the snow than any other idea.
Larry
>>>>On 12/18/99 8:52 AM so and so (Allen Hefner) said. (And I quote:)
>In a message dated 12/17/1999 5:41:36 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>mvheim@studiolimage.com writes:
>
><< Simple. It doesn't. They have the same contact area, just different
> length & width dimensions. More width x less length = same area.
>
> Let me repeat: wider tires do not give you a bigger contact patch (unless
> you also lower the tire pressure). They just change its shape. It just
> happens that the shape makes a difference. >>
>
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>
>Keep in mind that what we are comparing is two tires that are EXACTLY the
>same. The same rubber compound, the same sidewall height, the same sidewall
>stiffness, the same tread, AND the same tire pressure, all on the same car.
>In that case, the contact patch will be the same area, even with different
>width tires.
>
>Back to the real world. Wider tires are of no advantage if they have the
>same sidewall height and stiffness. They aren't much stickier (for
>competition use, at least) if they don't have a softer rubber compound,
>etc.
>So in the real world, narrower, taller tires tend to have a smaller contact
>patch area than wider, lower tires (that you probably bought to make the car
>corner better in the dry), and so they are better in snow.
>
>Ok...back to LBCs.
>
>Allen Hefner
>Philly Region SCCA Rally Steward
>'77 Midget
>'92 Mitsubishi Expo LRV Sport
Larry Macy
78 Midget
Keep your top down and your chin up.
Larry B. Macy, Ph.D.
macy@bblmail.psycha.upenn.edu
System Manager/Administrator
Neuropsychiatry Section
Department of Psychiatry
University of Pennsylvania
3400 Spruce St. - 10 Gates
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Ask a question and you're a fool for three minutes; do not ask a
question and you're a fool for the rest of your life.
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