Wider tire vs traction debate
 

Do wider tires do or do not give better traction and it is the same traction similar to narrow tire? - debate

Been having a discussion about it(it- meaning below)..would like to hear about what other people think(about the question above).

"In physics..As they are made from deformable rubber, tires dont exactly follow basic friction theory. So just say that F=mu*r is strictly wrong.

Although it basically does flow, this happens during the elastic range. Tires only give grip when they are at the correct temperature. Tires are the most important part of the suspension, either they are designed to fit it, or the suspension is designed around the tire.

People who say wider tires make more grip because, ''there is more rubber on the road' are wrong." They are both wrong that it makes more grip and that there is more rubber on the road. When you make a tire wider, you alter the contact patch to be wider , but it reduces in length. So depending on sidewall stiffness, a wider tire can actually give less rubber on the road. The main reason for tires being the size they are is actually heat management. Wider, low sidewall tires will cool better than narrow tall tires. If you can't get a tire up to temperature it will give no grip, if you get it too high - you will cook the rubber and ruin the set of tires.

Back to contact patch, you can safely assume that contact patch stays roughly the same area with wide or narrow tires (as long as the load stays the same). Narrow will have longer contact patches and wide tires will have shorter."

(https://www.physicsforums.com/thread.../#post-2310767)

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

Pretty sure that isn't true. The contact patch on a thinner tire should have more to do with the pressure it is inflated to than anything. Sure a load will still deform it a bit and you gain some contact patch but you gain a lot of real estate when you widen the tire. I would think what you gain would be more than what you lose.

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

I would give you a good answer, but I just knew this was a copy and paste thread. Only a handful on here understand complex things.

https://www.physicsforums.com/thread.../#post-2310767

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

ill speak from experience.

wider tires do give more traction. my last 3 cars have proven this to me

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

Lateral traction? Dry traction? Too many general statements. Wider is not always better for traction, depending on conditions. That's a general statement too.

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

LOL! Time for the ban hammer.

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

And an even smaller handful may deal with this thread topic professionally... ;)


I will just say this: Coulomb friction models like F=mu*r, etc., do not properly approximate what happens to a tire. Don't confuse yourself with gross oversimplifications like that.

I'm not taking the bait here though, and am confused about why this was pasted from another forum.

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

He wants to try and look like he's smarter than he really is while he goes for his 15 posts

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

how do people who have been here for seven years not have 15 posts...

Re: Wider tire vs traction debate
 

He does, just not according to the new rules apparently? I don't know how that works.