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Originally posted by e-7: I agree that narrow tires are less likely to hydroplane. Large ship?s hulls are made of 1" thick steel sometimes. You would not think that 1" thick still would float on water. Air has so much buoyancy that I have heard this is why large ships float. I believe compressed air has even more buoyancy but I am not sure.
I purchased narrow Michelin Symmetry All Season 185/70R14 tires just because they are less likely to hydroplane. I hate driving in the rain but the narrow tires seem safer. It doesn't matter what the item is made of, just does it weigh less than the water it displaces. You can thank Archimedes and his bathtub for that little rule. PSI is equivalent, that is the force of the air inside the tire. Since at rest anyway, we know forces must balance. So I do believe my calculations about the size of the contact patch are valid. Just look at your tires and tell me a fully inflated tire has more than about 20 square inches of rubber on the road, or about as much area as a mans shoe. TB
Tony Boner Personal: 98cdw27@charter.net Work: tony.boner@sun.com Saving the computer world from WinBloze as Unix/Solaris/Java Guru http://www.sun.com 1998 Contour SVT Pre-E1 618/6535 Born On Date: 4/30/1997 Now with Aussie Bar induced mild oversteer.
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I think you still want the most rubber to contact the road - a.k.a. a wider tire. In real world conditions, the point at which a car is hydroplanning is probably rarely achieved, therefore a wider tire will perform better in the wet under most conditons than a skinny tire. Ever look at those F1 rain tires? They are as wide as the dry tires.
Dan B.
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Tony, you are correct that the forces must balance but they don't have to balance over the same area. If you overinflate, the total weight of the car is balanced on four smaller contact patches. If you underinflate, the total weight of the car is balanced on four larger contact patches. If you have bigger tires, the total weight is balanced over four larger contact patches. Even within the contact patch, more of the weight is centered in the middle of the contact patch than on the edges. When you underinflate, the contact patch grows, friction with the ground grows (rolling resistance), and heat builds up...hence the Explorer problem. Think of a bullet hitting a bulletproof vest. The forces must balance but the little bullet concentrates its force in a small area while the vest dissipates the force of the bullet over a larger area. Later. 
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A good example is water skiing the skis have a large contact area and hydroplane on the water better than no skis at all.
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Think about this: a bicycle tire still has to clear the water from underneath it. The amount under it is the same as would be under the same area on a wider tire. A bicycle tire just gives you less stability, because a wider tire has to clear more water but has larger area to do it, while also giving you more road contact. You'll never flip on 5 feet long tires, but on bicycle tires you could easily topple over, wet or dry.
"Wow, that sank fast." "Yeah, like a rock." 96 Contour GL ATX 9mm Ford Racing Wires; 2 Resonators down, 1 to go;"Special airbox"; many mods planned Sony CD player: 50wattsx4;remote; Speakers=50 watt Pioneer 6x8s Ross Evans
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I agree with all of the posts. There are a lot of variables including speed, the depth of the water on the roadway, whether the road is straight or curved, condition of the roadway, and a lot more. When I think of hydroplaning I think of someone driving on a wet interstate, trying to turn and their car keeps going straight like it is riding on a sheet of ice. That happens often because interstate roads are have a smooth surface and most drivers are traveling at a high rate of speed. When a car hydroplanes the driver has no control except to slow down gradually.
That is a interesting problem with a lot of variables.
:rolleyes:
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