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Yup, I'm a nerd. Nonetheless, the traction circle concept is one of the most useful things for understanding what's going on in slippery conditions. If you've used all the tire's traction in braking or accelerating there's nothing left to hold the vehicle latterly.
I think you try to hide your inner nerd...
Graphs, graphs, graphs! When going into a spin grab a slide-rule!
Really though, how would you use that? How would one figure longitudinal force? Speed x weight? Lateral force would come from an arc of the circle traveled when going into a spin, or angle of deflection, or??
Wouldn't our tires grip change daily due to wear(and tire pressure,outside temperature etc), road conditions and vehicle weight?
That might be very handy on a track where every possible factor was known, but how could we use this in real time driving situations?
and exactly what is ufz, and why do we need friction of a tire, when a simple grip and some traction is what we're grabbing for
Of course you don't calculate anything while driving, it is enough to understand how it works so you can use good intuition while driving. Do you think the average driver has given any consideration to the relationship between acceleration/deceleration forces and lateral traction?Graphs, graphs, graphs! When going into a spin grab a slide-rule!
Really though, how would you use that? How would one figure longitudinal force? Speed x weight? Lateral force would come from an arc of the circle traveled when going into a spin, or angle of deflection, or??
Wouldn't our tires grip change daily due to wear(and tire pressure,outside temperature etc), road conditions and vehicle weight?
That might be very handy on a track where every possible factor was known, but how could we use this in real time driving situations?
and exactly what is ufz, and why do we need friction of a tire, when a simple grip and some traction is what we're grabbing for
Actually I did start on a tricycle, then moved up to a bicycle, and in my early teens to a motorcycle(offroad most of the time) and got my first license @15 for an up to 100cc motorbike, which I rode in ice and snow and rain more times than I can remember. Even took a Honda 100 @17 on a trip with my parents up into western Canada, they stayed at a resort in Penticton and I rode it over to Vancouver for a week, through a Natl Park and some small mountains, and their first freezing rain of the season while crossing the mountains. Got some funny looks with a Texas tag on a Honda 100 in Western Canada
Down South in TX and OK our winter storms are mostly ice storms, which can do more damage than a tornado.
Around 78 I was driving a 2WD one ton Econoline van, working on a power plant in NE TX when we got 2 inches solid ice. It was over 60 miles so I left out 2 hours early and didn't get there till 2 hours late, but, I got there, only to hear from the superintendent "we're not working today". I stayed there during the week so spent the morning at a hotel coffee shop talking with a truck driver- owner/operator @ a hotel restaurant. She was waiting on repairs and needed to go to a truck stop to cash a check so I offered to take her there.
The worse part of getting in trouble while driving in adverse conditions is 99% from other drivers, and sure enough I met my "other driver" that day. While on a service road beside the Interstate, somehow, there he was, and my only out was over a curb and down a hill.
I said "hang on!" as I floored it going down the hill and up the other side as far as it would go, did a u-turn and floored it again, back down again and up the other side, making it(rather smoothly) back onto the road but going in the other direction.
She spent the rest of the day trying to talk me in to coming to work for her as she had several trucks and was buying a new one, but I had never wanted to be a truck driver. They get around, but don't get to really "go there" because their destination is to the warehouse district, and quickly on to the next pick-up
Experience isn't always the best teacher, and I no longer go on such excursions, but if the situation warrants would not be afraid to.
The best thing to have along if you really must go is experience and some common sense, and avoid at all costs high traffic areas, and in extreme conditions Any traffic areas
And of course if you can avoid it simply don't go
I find it useful to think about how things work, and to get into the habit of using such understandings well before one is in a think-quick situation. That’s never the time to be trying to reason through something - by then the understanding has to be incorporated into your intinct.That's more or less what I was asking you sir
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