Conclusion to "Bald tires are better on dry roads" thread
07-22-2005, 11:27 AM
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Re: Thanks Muzzy.
Thank you Muzzy for your comprehensive review. You went through a lot of work reading through a lot of boring posts. I agree that I probably caused confusion by trying to prompt a theoretical discussion about bald tire traction on pavement and mingling that with asking if I should replace my tires which have 1/8" of rubber before I get to the wear bars worst case. A few then posted things like "You‼sup>TM</sup>re a dangerous idiot for driving on bald tires..." and many jumped on that bandwagon. Maybe I brought that **** on myself.
This has been educational. Many have pointed out that racing slicks are different than bald tires and explained the differences. Some have come up with other good reasons that bald tires have worse traction on dry roads than new tires. Others have said that at least theoretically bald tires have better traction on dry roads. ConsumerReports.com and The Car Guys said bald tires have the best dry road traction. This was all fun and interesting and I doubt if any of us will be driving around on bald tires no matter how dry it is.
My tires still have tread before I get to the wear bars and have amazing grip when I test it. Before I take this car in the rain, I will have a fresh set of spankin new tires. A month or two after that, I will change to wheels with snow tires and move to Tahoe as usual for the winter and deal with wet and gravelly roads and pot holes dodging others with bald tires.
I thought Gary was addressing my question about bald tires and slicks when he said  eIts true that slicks have the best dry traction” but maybe not. I certainly wasn‼sup>TM</sup>t trying to be  emisleading” in my post. In fact, I still don‼sup>TM</sup>t know what in it could be considered misleading. The slick example was obviously a theoretical example. I agree that the expert didn‼sup>TM</sup>t need an example but I wanted to pose the question the same as I did in the original thread to avoid pissing off any of those people off even more.
Here is a copy of my post on the tires and wheels forum and here is Gary‼sup>TM</sup>s answer. This is not required reading.
Here is my post:
The tires on my 2.7T are worn but there is still about 1/8" of tread left before I get to the wear bars. A mechanic said I should get new tires now because he said they are dangerous. I think the tires are safe here in sunny california until it it starts to rain again in October. I pay close attention to the weather and would drive my other car if there was a chance of precip.
I thought slicks had the best traction on dry pavement because they have the most rubber surface area on the road. The mechanic was more into winning the argument than acknowledging anything I had to say. Any opinions?
Here is his answer:
Its true that slicks have the best dry traction, and very little resistance to hydroplaning.
I would probably question the ability of anyone (even a 'good' weatherman) to correctly predict when and how intense the next rain storm will be with perfect accuracy. Keep in mind that wet roads usually most dangerous worst during the first rain after a long period of little/no rain.
Ultimately the decision is yours, but be sure you take all factors into account.
Gary
This has been educational. Many have pointed out that racing slicks are different than bald tires and explained the differences. Some have come up with other good reasons that bald tires have worse traction on dry roads than new tires. Others have said that at least theoretically bald tires have better traction on dry roads. ConsumerReports.com and The Car Guys said bald tires have the best dry road traction. This was all fun and interesting and I doubt if any of us will be driving around on bald tires no matter how dry it is.
My tires still have tread before I get to the wear bars and have amazing grip when I test it. Before I take this car in the rain, I will have a fresh set of spankin new tires. A month or two after that, I will change to wheels with snow tires and move to Tahoe as usual for the winter and deal with wet and gravelly roads and pot holes dodging others with bald tires.
I thought Gary was addressing my question about bald tires and slicks when he said  eIts true that slicks have the best dry traction” but maybe not. I certainly wasn‼sup>TM</sup>t trying to be  emisleading” in my post. In fact, I still don‼sup>TM</sup>t know what in it could be considered misleading. The slick example was obviously a theoretical example. I agree that the expert didn‼sup>TM</sup>t need an example but I wanted to pose the question the same as I did in the original thread to avoid pissing off any of those people off even more.
Here is a copy of my post on the tires and wheels forum and here is Gary‼sup>TM</sup>s answer. This is not required reading.
Here is my post:
The tires on my 2.7T are worn but there is still about 1/8" of tread left before I get to the wear bars. A mechanic said I should get new tires now because he said they are dangerous. I think the tires are safe here in sunny california until it it starts to rain again in October. I pay close attention to the weather and would drive my other car if there was a chance of precip.
I thought slicks had the best traction on dry pavement because they have the most rubber surface area on the road. The mechanic was more into winning the argument than acknowledging anything I had to say. Any opinions?
Here is his answer:
Its true that slicks have the best dry traction, and very little resistance to hydroplaning.
I would probably question the ability of anyone (even a 'good' weatherman) to correctly predict when and how intense the next rain storm will be with perfect accuracy. Keep in mind that wet roads usually most dangerous worst during the first rain after a long period of little/no rain.
Ultimately the decision is yours, but be sure you take all factors into account.
Gary
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