I’ve been wondering why sport and race cars use very wide tires for improved grip. Friction is as far as I’m aware a function of a coefficient and pressure. So, with wider tires that pressure should reduce no? Why do fast cars then use wide tires?
In: Physics
Wider tires are less likely to loose contact with the ground
The actual contact area doesn’t matter so much as much as having contact at all. So if you drive over a piece of gravel it doesn’t pop your wheel off the road.
Also there’s a balance between tire wear and softness and how fast the tires heat up when deforming which changes that coefficient of friction of the rubber.
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