Richard,
Congrats on some of the most amusing ASCII-art I've seen for a while! :-)
It does get the point across, though.
Not quite sure where you're coming from on the aqua-planing. Can't see how
the tyre size would affect that. In fact, although I've forgotten a large
portion of the stuff I learnt last year for my pilots exams, I remember an
approximate formula for aqua-planing speed which was based solely on the
tyre pressure - size didn't come into it at all. (Can't actually remember
the formula, but it wouldn't apply directly to cars anyway since the tyres
we drive on have a tread, which aeroplane tyres don't have.)
Interesting subject, though.
(Back to the off-roading, I have some great pictures of some real
off-roading, with wheels pointing off in seemingly-impossible directions on
rocks the size of a Spitfire. It's an old-fashioned paper picture, so I
can't point you to an on-line copy unfortunately.)
Dean
-------------
-----Original Message-----
From: Gosling, Richard B [mailto:Richard.Gosling@atkinsglobal.com]
Sent: 16 October 2003 17:16
To: 'spitfires@autox.team.net'
Subject: RE: Wheel sizes (non-LBC)
When off-roading (which, less face it, most SUVs rarely/never do) the large
diameter wheels should make a real difference, climbing over obstacles:
____
/ \
/ \
___ | | ___ __
| \ / | | / \
| \____/ will climb easier than | | \__/ if you see what I
mean...
For similar reasons I suppose the huge 20" wheels on the new Rolls-Royce
should give a smoother ride than smaller wheels, but I doubt it makes THAT
much difference.
A large diameter tyre will have a larger contact area with the road, which
may improve grip, which is generally a good thing! On the other hand, that
could lead to more easy aquaplaning on a very wet road, which is not such a
good thing.
Richard (no Daffy no more :( )
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