Turkey

+1

turkey

number plates are turkish, from Istanbul to be more precise

please do not offend us eastern europeans :D

Turkey: not middle east, not eastern europe and not asia either. It is turkey.:bustingup

:confused:

Hmmm, obviously this guy took his X5 way too deep in the water. That being said, with the 20" wheels and tires, I would thing the X5 should be quite capable.

My experience in previous beach driving, is either have really fat tires, or as was mentioned, if you have regular tires, let alot of the air out to create a wider surface for your tires to get traction.

Your thoughts all? Shouldn't the 20" tires work well on the beach since they are so wide?

Really wide tires have no more footprint (in area) than normal tires, at the same pressure. It is only the shape of the footprint that is different. A really wide tire (left-right) has a very short footprint (fore-aft). Thus, the tire is always trying to climb out of the depression it makes. Same as driving in deep snow.

Lowering the pressure usually makes a larger footprint (since the ground pressure is the same as the internal tire pressure, in general).

Now, the problem with RFT is that they are self-supporting. Thus, lowering the pressure doesn't really change the footprint.

> A really wide tire (left-right) has a very short footprint (fore-aft). Thus, the tire is always trying to climb out of the depression it makes. Same as driving in deep snow.

Well, only if you ignore the fact that tires are round, and not a flat board. A narrower tire will have a tendency to make a deeper depression since the longer longitudinal contact patch will have a greater curvature, with the construction and shape of a the tire forcing the sand to move in equalizing the pressure on the contact patch (unlike on asphalt or concrete, which does not slide and move due to pressure).


Think about it, e.g., what happens when a round tire presses onto sand? Sometimes it helps to visualize extremes. Take a couple of Identical diameter tires, one 2 inches wide and the other 10 inches wide. Put then onto the same sand with 1,000 lbs on the wheel. Assume they have the same contact patch area, with the 10 inch wide tire having a 10 X 5 inch contact area, and the 2 inch wide tire having a 2 X 25 inch contact patch.

Which has the deepest hole and biggest problem?


My assumption would be that the tire width and pressure that resulted in a "square" tire contact patch would likely be optimal.

Given equal area, a long and narrow contact patch will beat a short and wide contact patch in soft sand anytime.