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Re: Automobile tires and friction



My understanding is that the excess heat in racing tires is
detrimental not because it liquifies the tire, but because it
solidifies it. The original tire polymers are cured at the high heat,
changing the coefficient of friction and the flexibility. The tires
are changed when the curing process has progressed too far.


Rick Tarara wrote

Another factor, at least when looking at 'drag racing' as an example of the
use of large, wide tires. There the size of the tires helps dissipate the
'heat' generated by the frictional forces and keeps the tires from melting.
You don't want a liquid between the road and the tire.

Also note sometime when watching these races how once the rear tires start
turning, the conformation of the tire changes, from being wide and low, to
being more narrow and high. The rear of the car rises appreciably as the
spinning tires become more narrow disks of greater radius.

Rick

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