Tire Selection White Paper

[Sim Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sim]

Here's an interesting take on tires from experienced touring travelers ("expeditioners" they call themselves) in the US. They make comments about the benefits of a narrower tire for long distance touring as opposed to the commonly held belief of wider tires being better.

http://www.expeditionswest.com/research ... _rev1.html

The Argument: A tall, narrow tire is a better choice for all off-highway surface conditions with the exception of soft sand, snow and soft mud that's depth exceeds 110% of the vehicles minimum ground clearance.

They then go on to explain why they believe this - it's probably worth a read. Note the exceptions they make though - narrow has its limitations.

Near the end they add some examples:

Several Real World Examples: (just to show I am not the only one who believes in a narrow tire)

The Turtle Expedition who has literally traveled around the world used a 255/85 R16 (33.3 x 10) for many thousands of miles on their full size Ford. Land Rover uses narrow 7.0 R16 XCL tires in most of their Camel Trophy events. The Rain Forest Challenge and The Trophy challenge have all been won by the aggressive Simex Trekker tire (35x11.00). Tom Sheppard often uses the 7-7.5 R16 Michelin XZL and XCL for many of his expeditions. All very narrow tires in relationship to their height…

... I'm not trying to suggest anything here - and I have no personal experience in this area ... just thought it was interesting.

[Jacto Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Jacto]

Sim

After reading this white paper, it basically conveys everything that I was taught by tyre engineers over 25 years ago and makes for some very interesting reading. I was actually going through a tyre engineering course in Japan in 1988 and one of the instructors attempted to advise that a wider tyre provided better traction than a skinny tyre, when in theory a wider tyre provides better flotation characteristics and a skinny tyre has a smaller contact area along with a higher contact pressure and therefore bites into the ground better to obtain traction. Anyway, when I questioned his theory, the lead instructor told him he was incorrect and removed him from the training environment.

I haven't had a chance to read the paper in depth yet but I certainly am going to.

Fazza have you any comments on this traction versus flotation theory from your time in the tyre industry?

[MikeA Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close MikeA]

Skinnies may have their place but they just don't look as cool as nice wide lumpy tread tyre :lol:

[Fazza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fazza]

Jacto

Yes I agree with most of what has been written in the White Paper.

My point of view
Tyres are all a bit of a compromise.

Narrow 80 profile:- for mud & snow (aggressive tread patten)
Wider 75/70 profile:- (with very high ply rating & fairly aggressive tread) for rocky trails. Preferably with a softer compound to avoid tread blocks from chipping or breaking off.
Unfortunately high ply rated tyres, generally don't work as well in sand because of the stiff sidewalls. Often encounter sidewall damage when running at low pressures for to long, from overheating.
Wider 65/60 profile ATR :- (Standard 2 ply rating & medium tread) is a good compromise of all of the above, generally very good highway & sand but with sort comings in very rocky or muddy conditions. (sidewall damage & not aggressive enough)
Very wide or balloon tyres:- (reasonably smooth tread) very good in sand or Golf course use. Normally poor in most other situations.
However I have seen very wide very,very aggressive tyres (more like paddle wheels) do well in mud. I think it all depends on what type of mud ,how deep & how many revs???

Narrow tyres have a long footprint & tend to cut through water as against a wide tyre having a wide footprint will push the water in front & aquaplane sooner. You may have noticed with racing cars the tyre wide decreases the wetter it gets.

Maybe, one day the perfect tyre?
But for the present it gets down to what are your major needs in a tyre.

All probably much the same as the "White paper"?

"Cheers" Fazza