Re: I have seen 225/50-15's on a 4kq

[adamnelson@juno.com]

Just to throw in my two cents on wide tires, one thing not mentioned is
speed. Greater cornering speeds produce higher pressure on the contact
patch. Whether it's more mass or more speed is academic as far as the
pressure goes. On the other hand, at normal speeds wider tires tend to
float on snow and rain. 


On Tue, 24 Nov 1998 18:13:23 -0500 Huw Powell <human@nh.ultranet.com>
writes:
>> If the amount of
>> weight on the surface area on the ground is too little, the tire 
>won't
>> have enough pressure (not air pressure, but downward/gravity 
>pressure)
>
>actually on this list I finally learned that the tire pressure = 
>weight
>of the car divided by the contact patch area.
>
>The problem with wider tires is that the water piled up in front of 
>them
>has further to go to get out of the way.  Good design will help.  
>This
>can be even worse in snow, a narrow tire will cut a better path down 
>to
>the pavement.
>
>PS the 215-45-15 Sport Contacts on my coupe feel like the best tire 
>I've
>ever driven on.  Well, that's because they are.  I haven't had much 
>rain
>to deal with yet, but what little I've encountered has been no worse
>than the D60's I was running (185-60-14).  Can't wait for snow to 
>really
>see how they do.
>
>PPS wider tires change the feel of the car, too, I think.  Mine seems
>more twitchy now - ie the steering response is a bit quicker, less
>forgiving of lazy driving.
>
>-- 
>Huw Powell
>
>http://www.thebook.com/human-speakers
>
>82 Audi Coupe; 85 Coupe GT
>http://www.nh.ultranet.com/~human
>

Adam Nelson '85 4000S, Blaupunkt cassette, Starbucks go cup, '69 Beetle,
1 piece
windows, hand held fan, '91 Vanagon, KYB Gas a Just, bug screens.
Columbus, Ohio
adamnelson@juno.com

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