Specifics of tire/wheels sizes vs performance

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06-11-2005 | 02:33 AM

#41

maximapowr

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From: Houston, TX

Ammendment of traction force post...

Quote:

Originally Posted by koryo

The maximum traction that a tire generates can be described by this simple equation.

F = L x Cf

Where F is the traction force, L is the load or weight on the tire and Cf is the coefficient of friction for the rubber and road.

Notice that there is no mention of surface area. What this equation does say is that if you load the tire with more weight or put stickier tires you will have more traction.

koryo

To clarify....The reason that the contact patch or the surface area of the tire is not mentioned in this equation is because it is already accounted for in the cf (coefficient of friction) factor. The cf of a tire is a factor of the tire's contact patch on the ground. Intuitively, a one inch wide bicycle tire made out of the same rubber as a 12 inch wide high performance car tire will have a lower cf. Because the relationship between tire width and the coefficient of friction of said tire is not linear, you will not see an "unbounded linear growth" of traction forces as you increase tire width. There will be an increase, it just might not behave linearly...