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Archive for July 17th, 2008
Effect of Underinflation on Traction
Posted by Larry from Waterford, VT, US on July 17, 2008
Michelin has a commercial playing in Canada (passenger tires) &
they state that an “underinflated” tire will cause a loss of traction turning a good braking vehicle into an under performer”…
Now my question…and I am thinking more about truck tires. If you want higher traction…like in sand…you lower the pressure which gives you much better traction.
But Michelin is claiming that an underinflated tire will cause LOSS of traction…am I missing something?????
I have not seen this commercial but I suspect the statement is more like " underinflation CAN cause a loss in traction". Testing on dry pavement our test track, we find that, depending on the amount of underinflation and the speed of the vehicle, braking traction can be better or worse than the same tire set at the recommended pressure. Technically, this is caused by a reduction in cornering stiffness and lateral stiffness and also changes footprint length and pressure distribution across the footprint.