OT - Rotations of a low tire?
The "NPR "Car Talk" show's "Puzzler" a couple of weeks ago gave an
answer stating that some car's computer "knew" a front tire was low on
air because the ABS system noted that wheel was rotating "a heck of a
lot faster" than the other wheels when the car was driven.
I didn't buy that one.
Sure, the rolling radius of a low tire is less than that of a fully
inflated one, but the overall circumference, particularly on a steel
belted tire, remains the same. Barring slippage, that circumference must
lay its whole length on the road once per revolution, just like the
circumference of a full tire does.
From my TSD rallying days I remember that low tire pressures made some
slight differences in odometer measurements, but these were in the
second decimal place, hardly "a heck of a lot".
Am I missing something here? What do the great minds on rcm think about
this one?
Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
"Truth exists; only falsehood has to be invented."
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