Quote:
Originally Posted by ckissick
First, you can measure the weight of your car based on the psi in each tire. You measure the "contact area" (in square inches), or the area of the tire that is in contact with the ground. You multiply this by psi to get pounds for each tire, then you add up all tires. This confirms a direct link between tire pressure and weight from the car.
|
I'm having a hard time getting my arms around this one.
So if I'm running tires that are 10" wide @35psi my car weighs more than if I'm running tires that are 6" wide? The tire diameter stays the same, so the front to back contact patch is the same. The only change is the width of the contact patch.
Lets break it down. Assume for a minute that the front to back distance of the contact patch is 4". As the tire diameter doesn't change this will be a constant.
So with my 10"x4" contact patch of my 10" wide tire, I get a contact patch of 40". This times 35psi = 1400 pounds per corner. Or a 5600lb car.
Now I change to my 6" wide tire, and get a new contact patch of 24" (6" * 4"). A 24" contact patch @35psi = 840lbs per corner or a 3360lb car.