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Old 10-16-2011, 05:26 PM   #119 (permalink)
CapriRacer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ladogaboy View Post
To refocus back on the original topic......

Think of it this way (and without taking into account tire pressure), a track slick has a massive contact patch in comparison to an all-season tire, but which tire actually performs better in rainy, wet conditions?.....
If we follow that analogy, then race cars ought to use extremely narrow tires in the wet - but they don't. Obviously the grooves provide a place for the water to go - and that is important for wet traction.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ladogaboy View Post
........I don't necessarily want to take sides on this, since I don't have any empirical evidence either way. Over inflating might or might not improve wet traction (imo, it would have a minimal effect at best); however, under inflating is definitely the wrong thing to do (unless you're off-roading/rock crawling).
What evidence we have is reports of wet traction issues at elevated inflation pressures. Clearly these are anecdotal, but it is also clear there must be something there.

Does wet traction fall off linearly from placard pressure? Is the wet traction curve fairly flat near placard pressure, then fall off suddenly at some elevated pressure? We don't know.

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