Re: Tire pressures

[Robert Phillips <r3rfp@dax.cc.uakron.edu>]

On Tue, 18 Apr 1995, Brooks Ellis wrote:

> and I was up the canyon driving the other night. I drive FAST through 
> those curves, and I could feel my tires loosing grip around most of the 
> turns. When this happened, it was a sort of skidding grab-jump-grab-jump 
> kind of traction. It was sort of disconcerting at first, but I got used 
> to it. I was wondering : Do all tires lose traction like this? I thought 
> tires would actually skid, not bounce-skid...? I drove the same tires 

I think you are referring to what "they" call breakaway characteristics.  
Some tires, usually street tires, exhibit a very gradual breakaway.  When 
they approach the limit of adhesion, they break away (loose traction) 
little by little.  This usually compromises the ultimate grip of the 
tire, but makes the vehicle more controllable, especially to a 
novice/regular driver.

A cut-throat "race" tire like my Yokohoma A008RS, while still being DOT 
legal, reacts more like a real race tire.  The grip is phenomenal, but 
when it goes, it goes in a hurry!  They tend to break loose all at once.  
This is not a problem to someone who knows where the limit is, but finding it can be a bit scary the first few 
times.

Hope this helps.

Robert Phillips
The University of Akron Sociology Department-------Akron, Ohio
1987 Audi 4000S, 1.8L 4-cyl, FWD----------SOLO II  H-Stock