Steve wrote:
Would I be right to assume this bag has a significantly higher coefficient of friction than the tyres? If so, and it wears well, is it possible to make tyres out of this stuff?
This bag is taking up some of the vertical force that would otherwise be available to the tyres, hence reducing the level of traction from them; so what impact does this have on the ability to steer when the bag is deployed?
well i'm guessing .... but it seems like this is the last ditch attempt in automatic collision avoidance... and would rely on just having a massive surface area to do the braking.. so just a big anchor.
but yes it would reduce load on the tyres which are already braking.. making that and any steering input less effective. a similar brake based collision mitigation system i've worked with waited until it wasnt physically possible to for the driver to avoid the crash by steering before applying the brakes, i'd guess if last ditch this would be similar.. ie steering aint gonna help you now (buddy).
also interesting it helps to stop the nose dipping too.
also interesting to note the car has just potentially saved itself from a write off or £££££s worth of damage.... how much does the bag cost to replace ? .. in a merc !!! yikes.