You allow your vehicle to accelerate and stop it whenever you need. You turn your car when you have to take a corner. Do you know that all these tasks depend on your Goodyear tyres Birmingham? You drive your vehicle with proper driving comfort on the roads because tyres hold the roads properly when you increase the speed of your car or stop it suddenly.
In this blog, we are going to talk about the road holding capacity of your tyres. Have a glance!
Different factors work with each other while you hold your steering wheel to drive your car. In the following section, we will talk about the main three factors called contact patch of the tyres, the friction between the tyre and road, and load on the vehicle.
The contact area:
At the time of car driving, a small part of the tyre touches the road surface. This area of contact is called the contact area or contact patch.
This grip of tyres is further divided into two parts called longitudinal or front to back, and lateral or side to side. Longitudinal grip works while you accelerate or stop your vehicle. Lateral or side to side grip is applied while you turn the car.
You have to note that when a larger percentage of grip works on one side, only small friction will work on the other side.
The practical use of this principle is that when you accelerate your vehicle, do not try to turn your vehicle unnecessarily. If you want to stop your vehicle, keep the vehicle straight while you apply brakes and then, take your turn.
Friction:
The friction between the road and tyres is also a crucial factor to determine tyre grip. Before you measure the level of friction, you have to look at the tyre material and the nature of the road surface.
For example, if your tyres are trying to cross a puddle of water, tyres have to struggle more to overcome the frictional force. The level of friction will be less on a smooth cement road. Considering the nature of the road surface is also important while the surface is wet or dry. Wet and muddy surfaces are known to provide a smaller percentage of frictional force.
Vertical weight:
Loading the vehicle will push the tyres into the ground. Naturally, they will make more grip on the road surface. However, this principle does not favour overloading.
How to maintain a proper grip on the ground?
Surely, it is possible to improve grip if you are familiar with the factors that are responsible for the road holding capacity of your tyres.
Smooth driving is a vital factor in gripping the ground. Different forces work on your tyres and vehicle when you brake, accelerate, or turn your car. Therefore, using the steering wheel, brakes and gears are vital to maintaining proper grip.
Your tyres are the most important factors to make a proper grip. You will get a proper grip if you drive on high-quality tyres. Moreover, your tyres hold the roads well if you have chosen the tyres just according to road surface and weather conditions. For example, a directional tread pattern is made for wet conditions since it disperses the water effectively.
Even a well-designed tread pattern will struggle to maintain proper grip if you drive with bald tyres. Optimum tread depth is important for proper grip. Thus, ensure your tread depth does not go below 1.6mm. This is the legal tread depth limit in the UK.
Your tyres need more gripping power on snowy, wet, or muddy road surfaces. Wet roads are unfavourable for tyres because of hydroplaning. In this event, water comes between the Tyres Birmingham and the road surface and eliminates the frictional force that is an important factor for road holding capacity. As a result, tyres stop to provide grip, and the vehicle skids on the road.
Driving habits like slow driving, keeping a safe distance, and not taking sharp turns can save you from hydroplaning.
