SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
They have their place. I generally prefer skinny tires on trucks, cars are a different story.
They make wussy trucks nowadays
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
They say they are better in deep snow. I like how the box sides drop down to make the truck into a flat bed. When I worked for the schools in the twin cities we had a landscape type dump truck like that. Not a big dump truck... you know.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
I ran 295's on my Mustang and Challenger (275 front on the Challenger, 295 square on the Mustang). We put race tires (200 TW street class tires) on the Mustang a few summers back with the intent on racing it, but my wife ended up driving it to work all summer. She said she had never enjoyed tires so much before.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
When kept near the midpoint of the tire load rating, contact patch is mostly dictated by the tire pressure, with width and diameter only causing this to vary slightly due to sidewall strength. As you approach the maximum load rating of the tire, the wider tire will have a larger contact patch than the skinny, but only by a fraction of their difference in width (eg. 11% more contact patch for 28% wider tire). There's a very interesting discussion on the topic, here: https://www.enginebasics.com/Chassis Tuning/Tire Contact Patch.html
As to why they keep getting wider, I think it's for the same reason trucks keep getting bigger and taller and more shiny bling: It's what their market research shows customers want. They look tougher rolling down Main Street on cruise night, or picking up groceries at the Publix.
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SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Great post on tire width. It's just kind of pedantic to say that the contact patch doesn't change much, even though that's what I tell people. I'm just a automotive and tire nerd. Cars just keep getting weirder. Some things I like and others I don't, but I guess that's the way it always is.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I think if you only consider the first-order effect, your statement is 100% correct. If tires were just a balloon or inner tube, then patch area is dependent only on tire PSI. Or in other words, vehicle weight in pounds divided by tire pressure in psi = patch area in sq.in. In that scenario, tire width or height has no bearing on it.
But the reality is that tires have strong side walls, shoulders, steel belting, and so many other complicating “secondary factors”. Some of these secondary factors are so dominant, especially on something like an LT tire with 10-ply rating under a half-ton pickup, that they invalidate this old theory.
I like the way you think, though. I tend to work the same, things need to agree with physics... at least on the first-order principles.
For the folks not into physics, tire patch will be wider and shorter on a wide tire, or longer and narrower on a skinny tire. But to a general approximation, roughly similar net area, when your vehicle load is close to the 50% rating of the tire. From the limited data in the article I linked, this seems to be roughly the load range where those secondary effects neutralize.
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One thing I’d like to have that many of the newer trucks have is a backup camera for lining up the trailer balls to the hitch. The other day I was hooking up the skid trailer and I must have gotten in and out of the truck 6 times since you aren’t going to be able to get the truck close then move the heavy loaded trailer a bit to line it up right. Maybe someday I’ll put one on a truck.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Between boating and moving firewood, I have as many as three different trailers on my truck in any given weekend. At least one of them (firewood) is too heavy to move to the ball by hand, you just need to nail the alignment when backing up to it.
That camera has been a godsend, since prior to it, I always had to find a helper or do that 6x thing like you. Now I have a camera in the top edge of the tailgate, which points straight down at the ball, so I can get it right under the trailer coupling, every time.
These things also help if you have kids in the house. Mine are trained to keep their unused bikes out of the driveway, but most houses with kids seem to have at least a few incidents of mom or dad backing cars over a few bicycles.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
I'm sold too on backup cameras. They are a godsend, especially with a camper on back of the truck. Our local shopping area parking lot gets busy on the weekends and people walk around there with their heads in space (or on their phone). More than once a rear camera has helped me avoid hitting some space case. The Volt is silent and folks don't pay attention to moving objects it seems.
Sure! People are used to hearing a vehicle so that’s part of their warning to them to be careful. I had heard that someone was going to make them put a running car sound on electric cars. I thought it was kind of dumb but maybe not? Someday I might buy a backup camera to put on the truck I pull the big heavy equipment trailer with. A few weeks ago when I was hooking up to go to a storm blowdown area down the road I was cussing a bit lol. I couldn’t get the ball to line up for nothing because I was in a hurry I guess. I think I’ll get a dash cam first though. I recently had a incident where I was in the middle of a domestic fight and chase on a highway and it would have been good to have it on video when the lady ran a stop sign and cut me off then her boyfriend chasing her down on video as well as the kid a week later that was Texting I’m sure nearly hitting me head-on on a town road. Oh, and the blowdown area didn’t produce much for good firewood, most of the trees that went down were white pine, poplar and basswood and I didn’t bother to take anything home. We didn’t have power for two days from the storm so I got to use the generator for awhile.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
For sure. Though maybe a problem passing the gas pump. Somewhat a novelty with the Volt. 
My sister in California bought a new plugin Prius in April and she still has half a tank of gas in it so I guess she hasn’t taken any trips with it, just back and forth to the hospital she works at and a little driving around Sac.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
You got me beat, there. But I never lose my car in a parking lot, just hit the remote start and keep your ears open.
It will only be a short time until the only ICE cars on the road are all nostalgia-based, either true antiques or modern sports and muscle cars with retro styling.
LOL, very true. When I was commuting I would start up the Volt about 5 minutes before the bus arrived at the park and ride lot. It was dead silent, but comfy. 
Make a good recording of the Hellcat. Hook it up to your 2025 Dodge electric so that you can find it in the parking lot with the remote start.
Make a good recording of the Hellcat. Hook it up to your 2025 Dodge electric so that you can find it in the parking lot with the remote start.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Not a truck, but I’m going to be forced to replace my wife’s sports wagon soon. I wish there were better options for a AWD sports wagon EV, but I’m not seeing them.
Trucks are another area where we need some better EV options, and without the same $20k premium we seem to be seeing on EV cars, even after taxpayer contribution.
The new SS Camaros have a selectable sound option. Loud as hell or relatively quiet. Some kind of Exhaust bypass i think. Along with remote start. Nice option. The dealer did just that we we test drove it. Hit the remote start and listen for it. Probably not available on the non SS 4 and 6Cyl.
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SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
The Japanese pioneered this in the 90's and were followed by Europe, now American cars have finally caught on. I'd like a system like that on both of our vehicles.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Mine has exhaust valves, and I suspect yours may be the same, that’s one of the more recent techs used to expand the power and torque curve. Basic theory in a few sentences, is that you need free-flowing exhaust to build big hp, because that can only happen at high rpm, when the engine needs to move a large amount of air volume. But those free-flowing exhaust systems rob you of all your low-end torque, and most of your street driving is at these lower rpms. The latest solution is to install exhaust valves, which close down at low rpm, and open wide as the motor spools up. This allows big hp at the track, without sacrificing street torque, and also keeps the noise at a relatively acceptable level on the street.
This is why those videos are labeled “cold start” or “warm start”, the car only opens the valves wide to start when the car is cold. Starting my car will shake the house and scare the crap out of my kids, when it is cold in the winter. It is simply ear-splitting loud when cold. In the summer, not so much. It’s all in the exhaust valve programming.
