Let’s face it like gearheads: we’ve all been there at one point (or several): winter drops in without forewarning, and the car is still on summer tires. With today’s rubber compounds increasingly more dedicated to meeting stricter criteria for fuel economy and whatnot, a one-size-fits-all kind of product is impossible (or at least not economically feasible).
Thankfully, there’s a makeshift quick fix for emergencies (isn’t there always one?), and it comes from Russia. The largest country in the world is in no shortage of either winter, cheat code solutions for every situation imaginable, or the people to test it. This time, the proposed alternative to classic winter tires is summer tires with a sand layer to improve grip on slippery surfaces.
There’s a city in Southern Siberia that is home to a gang of smart Alecs who like to constantly challenge the practical limits and possibilities of everything car-related. This time of the year, their city is covered in winter – and I mean proper Russian winter, not the climate-change global warming bad joke environmentalists like to go mental over. The perfect environment for Garage 54 to sprout new quirky ideas.
Winter tires are a long-since commonality in Russia, make no mistake about it, but where’s the fun in doing things the way the government advises, expects, mandates, or forces one to do? The clever wrench-yielding Siberians have tested several options for getting around in winter (with a car!). Their latest video is centered around an age-old idea: making the contact surface of an ordinary summer tire more adherent by adding a coarser substance over it.
However, they went for sand – which seems counterintuitive at first glance since sand isn’t the best surface to drive over when encountered in its natural form in the wild. The tiny particles (essentially downsized pebbles) are awfully unpredictable and devastatingly wavy when a wheel rolls over them. However, put it on a firm, stable surface, and sand becomes a rasp that clings to almost anything. That’s how sandpaper works.
The Russians have fiddled with putting a sandpaper belt on tires in the past, but that didn’t work out due to the ‘paper’ factor (the abrasive device was quickly clogged with snow and lost all adherent properties – watch the second video for that). This time, they went one step further and glued the sand onto the rubber – with proper glue applied (by hand) on a cured, cleaned, and degreased summer tire.
In a stunning feat, a group of mechanics from Novosibirsk have achieved remarkable results with their unconventional approach to winter tires. The daring experiment involved applying a thin layer of glue to a summer tire and covering it in fine-grain, blow-torch-dried sand. The team then put the tire to the test on an icy surface, with impressive outcomes.
During the first run, the front-wheel drive Toyota Camry sedan took 27 seconds to accelerate from a standstill to 25 mph (40 kph). The braking distance was measured at 45 meters (148 feet). However, when equipped with the sand-coated summer tires, the car achieved the same speed in a mere 17 seconds and came to a stop at approximately 38 meters (125 feet). The second attempt yielded slightly different results, with an acceleration time of 20 seconds and a braking distance of 35 meters (115 feet).
It is worth noting that the sand-glue mixture did lose traction after repeated tests, but the performance was still commendable. To provide a fair comparison, the mechanics also tested the car with a set of studded winter tires designed for icy conditions. Surprisingly, the results were quite similar, with an acceleration time of 15 seconds and a braking distance of 35 meters.
While there are various factors to consider in evaluating the mechanics’ experiment, such as the sand’s coarseness, the stickiness of the glue, and the driver’s technique, their innovative idea has gained traction among like-minded individuals worldwide. It is important to remember that this unconventional approach is not recommended for navigating through snow. Previous experiments have suggested using recapped tires with ground walnut shells mixed into the rubber formula, which have proven to be more effective in snowy conditions.
The Novosibirsk mechanics have certainly pushed the boundaries of traditional winter tires with their sand-coated invention. Despite the challenges and limitations, their unique concept has sparked interest and opened up new possibilities for tackling icy roads.
