On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 05:31:44 -0700, N8N wrote:

>
>
> C.H. wrote:
>>
>> Would be fun to see you drive one of these 50s bias ply tire cars as a
>> daily driver in today's traffic. Wanna bet that you would change your
>> opinion?
>>
> It's certainly possible if you exercise a bit of care and look ahead (like
> you're supposed to.) The only difference will be that on the old bias
> plys you will be operating closer to their traction limits than you would
> be on modern radials. Also the bias plys give you a lot more warning
> (squealing, gentle slip) before they let go completely, they have a much
> more progressive breakaway than radials.

You always can exercise caution. And you should, even with modern tires
and cars. Unfortunately you can't forsee everything (like a SUV cutting
people off from the left line at a 30 degree angle because he wants to
make the exit). Of course you could slow down to a crawl but then you have
problems with cars coming from behind.

Bottom line is that caution is feasible to a certain point, but if your
equipment is not up to snuff you still are much less safe than you would
be if your car was adjusted to modern driving conditions.

Which is exactly the point I was making from the very beginning.

Chris