Do Flat Tyres Make Your Car FASTER? | For Science

We tried launching a car with basically no air in the tyres, all to try and prove a point. How much does tyre pressure *actually* matter?

So we tried everything from 70 PSI, all the way down to almost nothing, to see how it changed the cars grip, launch and ultimately, eighth-mile time.

This is a new series, For Science - where we answer all the questions that nobody asked - all in the name of science!

⭕ How much does ABS affect braking?

⭕ How Fast Does a Golf Have to Go to Beat a Standstill Ferrari?

#DragRace #ForScience #Tested

[OVERDRIVE.studios]

Those flat tyres were sketchy!! What would you like us to test next??

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[SmashGhost]

Use a car with power where the tires matter more, and launch control to eliminate the driver variable

[kizmetmars]

Would love to see how those tire pressures handle a corner close up and braking/lap time.

[bruncebanani]

The ideal pressure depends on the size of the tire (and of course on the car it is fitted to and especially its weight). It doesn't really make sense to compare tirepressures between tires of different sizes or between different cars.

[saladdressing]

I should have known Brit's measure heat in relation to tea.

[oncameramastery]

I had a MR2 with ultra low profiles and got a flat rear tire, the sidewall was so stiff that I couldn't even feel the flat below 30mph! Drove all the way to the local asda and shredded the sidewall! 🤣🤣

[aaron]

Would be super interesting to see how these pressures would affect a laptime or cornering ability

[rcsibiu]

the driver is also a key factor have different reaction times and also sometimes you wheelspin need to repeat this test with an automatic car so all settings are default in each run

[GraveUypo]

@6:40 not sure the gains are even real. you had to try twice. i think rolling resistance is just as important for such a low power car when doing this, and high pressure has the advantage there, even with only the rear tires being pumped. pump all four tires to 50 psi and you'd have your best time, specially in 1/4 mile or longer runs.

[Wouldpkr]

one aspect you might have missed about Drag tires, and Big drag tires at that is that they act as a clutch and take the initial shock of the driveline locking up and slowly transfer it to the ground to avoid spinning.

[cmorlok]

Experiment would have been better with a vehicle that actually had enough horsepower to spin the tires.

[mikael]

I hope you let the tyres cool down in between. Temps of the tyers also has an effect.

[Parker-dief]

I loved seeing the tire wrinkle at 5 PSI! That was awesome!

[ApothecaryTerry]

Loving the series idea. I wonder what a 2nd run at 30 would have given since that time ended up being a noticeable outlier.

Is there something you can do (in a hatch/estate) with ballast to see how moving the weight distribution around affects the car? Maybe 100kg (water tank?) in the passenger seat, boot and somehow strapped out the front like an Audi engine! ☺

[EddieOtool]

You'd need to do that with a car which can spin the tires up to 3rd gear. Otherwise, you're within the margin of error, because 2 seconds into the run, you can't spin the tires anymore.

[andret.t.]

MASSIVE thumbs up for this youtuber that goes straight into action within 30s of video instead of warbling aroung

[brianrussell]

After their 15psi, you can see the wheel hub spinning before the rubber does which means the rubber is slipping.

[screew]

You should have kept the tyre pressure in the front constant. Lower pressure in the front will just increase drag. The lower pressure might actually have been better if it was just the rear wheels.

[vmdsb]

instead of acceleration you could test tyre pressure vs cornering speed or lateral 💫G-force

[moditorino]

The lower the tires pressure, the higher the rolling resistance. So yes, you might get a better launch out of it (as seen in the video), however on the long run too low of a pressure will cost you time since the rolling resistance is drastically increased. On a 5000+ hp Dragster that won't be a problem since the centrifugal force pushes the tires outwards thereby creating a smooth surface with less rolling resistance. However actual dragslicks aren't even real tires. They're more like plastic bags (atleast that's what they feel like). They feel like the foil you use to build a nature pool. Normal tires on a normal car will never be able to eleminate the rolling resistance effect and thereby running low pressure is useless and outright dangerous (especially at medium to high cornering speeds)