The primary purpose of this paper is to quantitatively assess differences which may exist between performance type tires often utilized on law enforcement vehicles and typical production type passenger car tires relative to tire-roadway friction. A secondary purpose of the paper is to compare current tire-roadway friction coefficients of various tires on both front and rear wheel drive vehicles with data published by Northwestern University. Another objective of this stidy is to evaluate any significant differences which may exist between the road surfaces indegenous to the south central United States and the published data of Northern University. A further objective of the paper is to compare any differences which may exist at the tire-roadway interface between bias ply and radial tires. Tire-roadway friction testing using four vehicles and six sets of tires was performed on both concrete and asphalt surfaces.
Abstract