For some reason, this was sent to me rather than land-speed@autox.team.net.
Reply to author, not me.
mjb.
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------- Start of forwarded message -------
Date: Wed, 09 May 2001 00:07:57 -0400
From: Chuck Rothfuss <crothfuss@coastalnet.com>
Subject: Tires (was "opinions wanted")
Grib,
This is gonna sound strange, but given my recent experience at Maxton
with some very narrow rear tires it seems worth passing along.
With no other changes to the car (same weight, same tire pressures,
compound, etc.) the wider tires may do more harm than good when trying to do
a WOT charge through the lower gears. By increasing the width of the tire
you'll be shortening the front-to-rear contact patch of the tire. Even with
the increased width, the bite could be lost at the first joint in the
concrete allowing all that HP to make nothing more than lots of expensive
smoke.
What I found this last trip to Maxton (in a car less than half the size,
weight, and HP of yours) was that a narrower tire (close to half the width
of my old rear tires) even in a harder compound provided a better 1/4 mile
charge than the wider, stickier rear tires I'd tested in the past. Why?
The longer, narrower contact patch simply got more bite into the track than
a wider, shorter contact patch. Even when it did let go, it would hook back
up again after a short wheel hop without requiring me to lift. This sure
beat the uncontrolled hazing I used to give the rear tires as I pedaled
through the 1/4 mile.
I don't expect to see any of your cars with 5" wide rear rubber, but
contact patch may be at the heart of your traction troubles on the Maxton
concrete.
Chuck Rothfuss
USS Wankel
------- End of forwarded message -------
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