I am trying to figure out if there is more traction and adhesion to the road if you get a wider tire as compared to a smaller width tire........Can anyone out here help that is good in physics?

Thanks

 

ok, take your finger tip, and press it as hard as you can on your desk and try to move it around. Then, take your whole hand and press it against the desk and try to move it around. Which is harder?

 

What CRX7 said is true. When it comes to tires though, there are a lot of factors that will affect adhesion. The compound, tread pattern, etc. of the tire greatly affects how well it "sticks" to the ground. What kind of driving do you do? That's a good way of finding out which tires are best suited for your needs.

 

I do alot of twisty road driving and i like to take them at higher speeds.

 

All things being equal between two tires except for the width, the wider tire will give you a bigger contact patch, thus increasing traction. However, if the rim that the tire is on, is designed for, say a 195 tire, & you put on a 205, you're gaining in the size of the contact patch, but loosing in sidewall stiffness with the wider tire. I can't comment on whether or not the gain in contact patch outweighs the loss in sidewall stiffness, because I don't know. Hopefully someone else can chime in with more info.

 

Choosing the correct tire for any driving situation is a balancing act (much like making more power out of an engine). The sidewall height also makes a large difference in how your car behaves when you really get on it. Shorter sidewalls will give you a "riding on rails feeling" when you make sharp turns and such, but it will also break loose on you without much warning. It's almost an on/off kind of deal. With a taller sidewall, the tires will give you more warning before it actually breaks traction. They start to squeal when you push them, and it's a lot easier to detect when they will start to slide. For example, you don't see a lot of roadrace cars use super thin tires. IRL, CART, Formula One, SCCA, etc. mostly use tires with a rather tall sidewall. Hope this helps.

98AcuraGS,
There are a bunch of really good tires out there. A lot of them come with pretty high prices. I like the Falken Azenis tires. They perform really well and are very reasonably priced. If you have 15" wheels I'd go with a 205/50-15 tire. If 16" then 205/45-16 tires. But it's on you. Peace.


[Modified by BooYo66, 6:06 PM 9/14/2002]

 

Generally, wider tires will give you more traction, assuming you upgrade your tire width properly. If you read a high school physics book, you'll understand that wider tires should NOT give you more traction. Area should NOT make a difference in friction between two objects. Only the force holding the objects together and the coefficient of friction should make a difference.

However, in the case of tires that's bs. As you put more force on a tire (heavier car) it will provide more traction but will have to move a heavier car, so cornering should be equal. However, the increase in force on the tires and the traction they provide is not a linear relationship, like a physics book will make you think.

Wider tires will give you more traction.