Quote:
Originally Posted by aerobod
On a wet surface a few degrees above freezing, summer and winter tyre differences can be even more dramatic than on a dry surface, as you can’t keep heat in the tyre, Car Magazine did an interesting comparison a few years ago: http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-new...r-tyre-test-3/ |
This is tickling my old memories - I think tires have different grip for 'mechanical' vs. a more 'chemical/friction' mode. The first is the simple resistance of sliding something across a rough surface, but the latter is more of a function of elastomers and the coefficient of friction between road and tire. I recall this from some ancient discussions about braking forces - this is why max stopping is right in that near-lockup zone, IIRC, b/c the rubber is heating up and being stretched more, maximizing cF (perhaps also that the incipient slide adds mechanical resistance?). This makes me wonder if the advantage those summer tires had was just b/c they put so much more rubber on the road (they were almost slicks).
And partly just envying those of you who can sometimes get the cold w/o the 12" of snow that comes w/ it. I guess you do have to live in places like Texas though
