list: essentially, thrust is inversely proportional to the "radius" from center of axle to tire contact patch. the "flatter" the tire, the greater the thrust for a given torque applied to the axle: thrust = torque/"radius". in other words, for a given engine/transmission, smaller radius tires provide greater maximum thrust (until the tires slip, of course). physically, the tire contact patch pushes back on the ground, which by newton's 3rd law, "action = reaction", pushes forward on the tire, hence providing the forward thrust on the vehicle. it is the highway which pushes the vehicle through the air! dan >So if the tire is underinflated the effect is that the last factor in the >thrust value, the radius arm of the torque applied at the axle is less >producing a slightly lower overall final drive ratio. The reverse is true >for fully inflated tires (larger axle to ground distance). > |
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