Traction on grass
How ready are your tires for off-road driving? Generally, the first thing that comes to mind when we hear the word "off-road" is mud and powerful cars. But that's not entirely true. Off-road can be boldly referred to as any surface other than asphalt, and preferably a flat one :) Such surfaces can include gravel, sand, and dirt. At the same time, variations can continue further depending on whether it's raining or not and how intense it is.
Separately, I would like to dwell on grass. Positive associations with green grass can change if you get on this surface after rain. Because the traction on wet grass can be compared to a stable water film. At the same time, the traction under the right and left wheels can be different, and with a high degree of probability, the car will spin or start to swing from side to side.
If we compare the quality of traction, then wet grass, naturally, is worse than gravel and sand, and even has less traction than wet dirt or, in other words, mud.
An interesting test was conducted in the "Auto Bild allrad" magazine, comparing, in fact, road tires in terms of traction on grass. The traction force was evaluated in Newtons on special equipment. The lower the number, the lower the traction.
- Goodyear EfficientGrip 2 SUV – 3917
- Nokian Wetproof SUV – 3843
- Michelin Primacy 4 – 3749
- Falken Ziex ZE310 Ecorun – 3659
- BFGoodrich Advantage SUV – 3414
- Maxxis Premitra 5 HP5 – 3414
- Imperial Ecosport SUV – 3268
- Continental PremiumContact 6 – 3166
- Toyo Proxes Comfort – 3166
- Bridgestone Turanza T005 – 3086
Almost 30% difference between the leader and the outsider. At the same time, the test results cannot be linked to the tread pattern. Therefore, it can be concluded that the reason for such a difference may be the recipe of the tire's rubber compound.