Howdy,
On Fri, 3 Dec 2004, Traci Pearson wrote:
> I was just thinking about tire grip and the fact that tires with the most
> grip are slicks. They have the most possible surface area, right?
>
> If you go buy tires now, the deal want to "sipe" your tires: cut small
> slits all over the tread. They say it creates more grip on the road.
It probably does, but only in rain/snow/ice. All the good snow tires I'm
familier with have sipes from the factory.
> I don't know of any solid evidence for or against this practice. But my
> common sense says that the more whole, flat "pieces" of rubber you have
> against the road, the better your grip is going to be. Look at high-end
> performance tires; they have fewer and fewer grooves in them, more flat,
> whole rubber against the road.
>
> Does anyone have any thoughts on siping? Does anyone know of any studies or
> solid evidence that prove or disprove its value?
For dry use, siping can only hurt performance. However, for wet weather
(or snow/ice, which turns to water under the tire), I've always heard of
siping as being recommended. It gives the water a place to go so that the
rubber can contact the road, rather than having a layer of water between
the tire and road.
Mark
(not a tire engineer)
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