increasing tire width does not improve wheel traction one bit in a straight line.

Discuss

 

um..... how did you come to this?
<-- i litterally have the same look as archie over here in my avatar

 

More rubber on the ground does not = better traction


Think about weight distribution. You have a very thin tires, so you have a very thin contact pad on the ground. The weight of your car is evenly distributed across that pad, and there is much weight in that single area. Now, you have a wider tire, and a greater contact area, which means less weight at a given point on the area but evenly distributed across the large area. Kinda hard for me to explain, so I will give you an example:

Put your hand on a table palm down, and only put the weight of your hand on the desk (ie. don't push down). Now, try moving your hand across the table. Next, put your hand in a fist, and rest your knuckles on the table, again with only the weight of your hand resting on the desk. Slide your knuckles across the table. Now, the area in contact of your hand with your palm down is much greater than with your hand in a knuckle, but, given all things equal (ie. not excess sweat, oil, etc on your palm) it should take the same force to move your hand across the table both times.



*edit- ONLY in a straight line*

 

but see, the tires are under a very very heavy car... to the point where a wider tire does give better traction



*EDIT* also road conditions arent constant, so a wider tire allows better traction in certain places, pulling the car or pushing it through rough areas much more smoothly

 

so then you are telling me that tubbing a rear end or big fat drag slicks on competition drag cars is stupid....:eh:

 

Why? Why does more rubber mean better traction? The weight of the car will just be distributed over a greater area. Yes, I agree that if the roads were horrible then a wider tire would make a difference, but unless there are potholes all over the place, and you're launching in a big pile of gravel, then I doubt it would have any effect in something such as a 1/4 mile time.

 

Well as far as drag slicks go, there's more to it then just simply more rubber on the ground. The compounds are different, the tread is different, and, going to my next point...

... the reason is IMHO geometry. You're right, in a static situation where the tire does not deform, more rubber does not equal more traction because the pressure on the tire patch is the same. However, a wider tire of the same diameter is under less force per unit area, and thus areas like the sidewall benefit from having to deal with less forces, making the tire stiffer, meaning that when it comes to a dynamic maneuver, more tire remains in contact with the ground.

Of course, this is just something I came up with in about 3 min. So I could be wrong h:

 

After doing some research on the topic, my previous statment (the post right above this one) is incorrect. The greater contact surface of the tire only helps with inequal road conditions, as someone stated before. I still believe that if the road conditions were the same in each place, a wider tire would not help for straight line traction. Now, another reason to put some huge drag slicks on is to be able to handle the car off the launch. Weight distribution is not perfectly equal across a drag car, and again road conditions are different, so one tire may loose more traction than the other tire, causing the car to shoot off toward a wall or something. You've seen it before. The wider tires on those cars help gain control back from something like that.

 

so if I launch at 5k on donuts up front, or I launch with a set of beefy tires, you mean to tell me that I will get the same traction because of weight. A wider tire distributes heat and weight over a great surface area, which produces more traction.

 

im sure professional drag racers have been wrong all these years