Quote:
Originally Posted by Christ
Secondly, the engine does not SEE the inertia required to spin the non-drive tires.. it only sees them as dead weight. The fact that they roll means nothing.
|
Just so everyone knows; I am unbiased and not attacking anyone, just trying to clarify for the knowledge of others who read this. For normal driving, where traction is maintained (no wheelspin) the non-drive tires are in fact mechanically connected to the drive tires. think of the road surface as a huge belt and the front and rear wheels as pulleys. They are easier to rotate because they are directly on bearings with only the brakes attached, but the same rules of physics involving rotational inertia apply.
If you put 50 lbs of lead wheel weights on the edge of the rear wheels of a civic, it take more power to accelerate than a stock car or a car with 50 lbs in the back seat and it would glide farther from the same speed. It would also ride rougher and take longer to stop.
just my $.02