Now that the huge storm has hit the US NorthEast, with a huge round of road accidents including fatalities, it's yet another reminder of the perils of winter driving.
I recently came across a discussion forum on older Camaros which mentioned that the '69 Camaro had an option for injectors built into the wheel wells of the car, which could be triggered by a push of a button to spray a liquid onto the tires which would boost traction on ice and snow.
http://www.chevelles.com/forum...owthread.php?t=72219 I'm wondering why this technology did not survive to be included on newer cars, perhaps even in a more evolved form.
Imagine if such a tire-spray system were integrated into the Anti-lock Braking System or the Stability Control System of a modern car. Then as soon as the vehicle began to lose control while driving on ice, the spray nozzles would automatically trigger to immediately spray the tires with the traction-boosting agent, hopefully saving the car and occupants from disaster. Not only could your own car be saved, but perhaps even the next vehicle to encounter the same patch of black ice would also benefit from your having already smeared that patch with the traction-boosting agent.
The traction-boosting liquid used in the '69 Camaro was called "V75 Liquid Tire Chain", and was made by Dow Chemical.
There are some tire spray products currently on the market, like "Tyre Grip", whose main constituent is Pine Resin, which apparently becomes sticky in contact with moisture:
I'm sure that natural compounds like this could be improved upon, to instantaneously provide radically enhanced adhesion between tire and ice, even in very cold weather.
Considering that this technology was first engineered for use in cars nearly a half-century ago, I'd imagine there have been enough technological advancements since then to warrant another look at this idea.
When you look at how Anti-lock Braking and Stability Control have become highly desired and even required features on cars today, I would think that an effective traction enhancement system would also be a very attractive thing to provide. Like airbags, it could in some cases perhaps mean the difference between life and death.
What do you all think of this idea? Comments? Analysis? Critiques?
