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mikefocke · 12-20-2014, 12:32 PM

Back many years ago, just as it started to rain, I was trying to negotiate a reverse camber (slopes away from the inside of the curve) ninety degree turn at only 20 MPH and found myself sliding towards another car and the front end of my VW type 4 folded up in front of my eyes. After incident analysis said that the tires were at fault. I had bought the car less than a week before and the tires looked good. Picked up the car a day later at night and didn't reinspect. Dealer had switched tires. Yes the type and condition of tires makes a difference and a curve is where oil get deposited over the weeks between rains.

Also go look at the stopping distances of varying tread depths in a good rain. The difference between a new tire and one worn down to 2/32 (legal limit in many states) in a test on a water soaked surface was an almost doubling of stopping distance! 4/32 deep tires took about 50% longer to stop than new tires.

New - 195 feet

4/32 - 290 feet

2/32 - 378 feet

Even more startling to me is that on a 2/32 tire, in stopping tests in the wet from 70MPH, the new tire would have stopped the car where the worn tire would only have slowed the car to 55MPH!!!! 4/32 would only have slowed the car to 45!!!!

12-20-2014, 12:32 PM	#27
mikefocke Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Sanford NC Posts: 2,560	Back many years ago, just as it started to rain, I was trying to negotiate a reverse camber (slopes away from the inside of the curve) ninety degree turn at only 20 MPH and found myself sliding towards another car and the front end of my VW type 4 folded up in front of my eyes. After incident analysis said that the tires were at fault. I had bought the car less than a week before and the tires looked good. Picked up the car a day later at night and didn't reinspect. Dealer had switched tires. Yes the type and condition of tires makes a difference and a curve is where oil get deposited over the weeks between rains. Also go look at the stopping distances of varying tread depths in a good rain. The difference between a new tire and one worn down to 2/32 (legal limit in many states) in a test on a water soaked surface was an almost doubling of stopping distance! 4/32 deep tires took about 50% longer to stop than new tires. New - 195 feet 4/32 - 290 feet 2/32 - 378 feet Even more startling to me is that on a 2/32 tire, in stopping tests in the wet from 70MPH, the new tire would have stopped the car where the worn tire would only have slowed the car to 55MPH!!!! 4/32 would only have slowed the car to 45!!!! Last edited by mikefocke; 12-20-2014 at 12:37 PM.