hydroplaning

[Mike Arman]

Comparing snow performance with rain performance will be misleading.

Snow is a fairly compressible solid, and it can be squashed and knocked out 
of the way.

Water is incompressible, and as soon as you are going fast enough so the 
water can't get squished out of the way in time, you're hydroplaning.

I also think a lot of tire performance claims for CONSUMER grade tires are 
mostly marketing hype - so just because some tire manufacturer claims their 
tires are for rain, that doesn't mean they are any good at it.

I'd like to suggest we take a look at F-1 or even Nascar race car tire 
technology a little - those guys go blasting around WAY faster than 49 mph 
on wet tracks - how do they deal with the hydroplaning problem? Is it tire 
compound, tread pattern, or some combination? Or do they just close their 
eyes and pray? I know they have different tires for wet and for dry, anyone 
know exactly what the differences are?


(I also like the idea that if my tires are flat (hence zero pressure), the 
car is weightless - which means it can fly!)


Best Regards,
Mike Arman