20 TRACTION
20 TRACTION
When your tires spin faster or slower than the speed that your vehicle should allow then you have lost traction. Traction is the grip your tires apply to the surface that they are on so, when force is applied to the tires to make them turn, your vehicle moves.
There are many things that can make your tires lose traction; ice, slick tires, going too fast, turning too sharp and/or suddenly hitting rough bumps.
Not only should you have front and backwards motion traction but your vehicle should have side to side traction. Your tires are designed to grip when force is applied to them to rotate, then, as they start turning, the vehicle will start moving either frontward or backwards, depending on what gear you have the transmission in.
[The motor always turns the same way when you start it; generally clockwise when you are standing in front of it looking under the hood at the motor. The transmission changes the speed and direction via a multiple set of gears that mesh with each other and rotate against each other.]
A sudden acceleration by the motor can over spin the tires and they will lose traction and start spinning. When this happens on snow or ice, the tires heat up and melt the snow or ice in direct contact with the tires forming a thin layer of water on the snow or ice. When there is water on snow or ice, the tires will have a very difficult time getting any traction to move the vehicle.
Spinning your tires when you are stuck only makes the situation worse. Try stopping your tires from rotating and then gently pushing on the accelerator until you feel the tires start to put pressure on the snow; you will feel the vehicle try to move. Gently keep increasing the pressure on the accelerator until the vehicle starts moving ahead or back, then hold that pressure until you are out of the situation and on solid ground again. If you have to rock your vehicle to get it unstuck, us gentle pressure on the accelerator and stop between gears; don’t over rev the motor and spin your tires.
The forward and backward traction is not all the tires are designed for; they have side to side traction built into the tread to keep you from sliding off the road on turns. Each tire has a different design and is made for a different season and application. Snow tires have a very wide gap between the rubber to let the snow compact in the gap instead of collecting under it. It uses this compaction to help grip the snow and add more traction.
The different direction of the rubber tread and the gaps in the tread are designed to apply pressure in different directions; adding to the side to side stability of the moving tires also.
Summer tires do not work as well in snow because it does not allow enough snow to go between the tread to add any more traction to the moving tires and the snow cannot get back out of the narrow gaps fast enough to help move through the snow. The wide tread of the winter tires kick the snow out as soon as the rotation of the tire lifts that part of the tread away from the snow so they are ready to grip more snow when they contact it again on the next rotation.
My grandson is always bragging that more horsepower makes a car go fast but I tell him that, if it doesn’t have good traction then it’s going nowhere. Snow and ice is coming; slowing down maintains better traction and a safer drive.
