In a message dated 10/11/00 6:54:58 AM, mup1dm@surrey.ac.uk writes:
<< dcouncil@imt.net wrote:
><< I had heard narrow was better in snow and ice >>
Jay Donoghue replied:
>Oh, yeah, that's right. It is best to decrease your footprint for better
>traction in all situations.
>
Not all situations, but certainly in wet snow and very heavy rain.
The question is really whether you want the footprint to be large on the
surface of the road, or on the surface of the water. This phenomenon is
known on the left side of the puddle as hydroplaning and is called
aquaplaning over here.
It is quite fun on european motorways in such situations watching the
Citroen 2CV's with their 500cc engines (and skinny cart tires) motoring
past the Beemers and Verandahs. They have contact with the road -- they
can steer and brake, so they don't have to go slow -- unlike the guys
in the "fast" cars.
In ice and other sorts of snow (I got to know many when I lived in Canada
for 5 years) the principal attributes of tires that relate to traction
are the rubber compound and the tread design. In relation to other
discussions here, old rubber will be hard rubber, and aggressive tread
(good in loose snow and mud) will have less contact with the road (for
a given tire size) than summer tires.
Douglas McKinnie (in Guildford UK)
'72 MGB-GT (in Ohio)
>>
Wide tires with minimal tread certainly will hydroplane before skinny tires,
but it seems to me a wider tire with appropriate tread is the better choice
in general. Trying to find isolated occasions where wider tires are not as
good as skinny tires seems a waste of time. Lots of snow or ice for months
at a time--get wide studded tires (This is just a guess; I live in a
temperate climate.) Lots of rain, get a wide tire with good water-shedding
characteristics. And, yes, an aggressive tire tread is less effective on dry
pavement then slicks, hence the rolling tire stores that accompany racers.
If you want to change your tires for every weather condition encountered,
well then you've got a point. But otherwise, and to get back to the origin
of this thread, calling 185s "monsters" compared to 165s is a little
over-the-top.
Jay Donoghue
72B (with 185s)
72B-GT (with 165s on wires)
66 Mustang (with way-skinny tires)
|