The Importance and Role of Tyres on Road Vehicles: Their influence on Breaking Distance

It is considered that tyres play the primary role in terms of road safety on dry, wet, snowy or icy roads. This is due to their importance, as they are the element of support, of contact, of the car with the road (the track). This scientific paper presents concrete research carried out by the author with a view to implementing theoretical and practical concepts, in which the technical aspects of tyres fitted to road vehicles are presented. In this way, those interested can find out how tyres and wheel rims are labelled and marked; specific data are presented on summer and winter tyres; the phenomenon of of the aquaplaning of car wheels is defined, presented and explained; the forces and moments acting during braking are presented and defined; the braking distance (space) and the two second rule in road traffic are presented and explained. The paper concludes with a case study presenting the contribution of road car transmissions to braking distance reduction and an original research on braking distance, carried out using the second order active factorial experiment method, in which two cars of different classes (a Lamborghini Huracane Technica and a Dacia Logan), equipped with different tyre categories, were used. Finally, results and conclusions are presented.