Quote:
Originally Posted by Smiley1175
It's the tyre pressures that determine the contact patch size. The shape changes, but not the amount of area.
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That thinking is very often disputed. I don't think you can accept that as fact. Here is one reference that disputes it:
http://www.performancesimulations.co...on-tires-1.htm
The idea is that tyres do not behave the same as a balloon. Modern tyres are full of steel, nylon and Kevlar so the tyre has weight and stiffness that affects the size of the contact patch. Also the contact patch will be different in dynamic conditions vs static condition due to the forces on the tire.