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RE: [ST] 190 on rear



On Tue, 17 Dec 2002 14:45:43 -0500, colt4530@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

>Tires are bouyant devices.  So, at the same pressure and load, the contact
>patch will be the same for any 2 tires.  It's like a boat; 500 pounds
>displaces 500 pounds of water, whether in a bass boat or a coal barge. 
>That notwithstanding, a 190/50 may have desireable qualities over a 
180/55,
>but the contact patch  won't be one of them.

Buoyant devices work on DISPLACEMENT not contract. The bass boat and 
the coal barge will displace the same amount of water. But different SHAPE 
boats will have different contact patches (surface area). Surface area has a 
very direct relationship to traction.

For a single given tire, different weight and air pressure will change the 
contact patch; more weight equals more contact patch; more pressure 
equals less contact area. But different shape tires give different contract 
patches. Tires are not formless balloons, they have shape. Also the surface 
of a balloon is very thin and so has little effect. But tires have a thick rubber 
coating that distorts.

David W. Funk
'00 Triumph Sprint ST
Pleasanton, CA




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