How do tyres work?

[Malidictus]

This breaks down into several questions.

1. What does "handling" actually do? What does it affect? It seems - though I'm not certain - that lower handling values make the vehicles steering slower to respond. My car takes longer to start turning and longer to stop turning. Is that true?

2. What does "traction" do? Certain tyres say they have more or less "traction" on different surfaces, typically sand vs. road. I presume "road" doesn't just mean asphalt but also the hard-packed dirt roads which cover the Great White? In either case, what does traction on each of those surfaces actually affect? I can't quite tell.

3. What matters more - handling or traction? The "best" tyres in the game are racing slicks found in a gas station, but they're supposedly best for "road" conditions. Judging by Chum's description (and common sense), slicks would be awful for off-roading, yet they have the highest handling. The next-highest handling comes from Gutgarshe's bucket wheel excavator tyres, which are supposedly awful for on-road travel. What's "best" or am I seriously supposed to keep swapping them around?

[lucasj1210]

try a race or two and you'll see the difference

[Malidictus]

I can't, that's the thing - I can't tell what's changed, and whether it's changed for better or worse.

[Doc_Scranton]

You get comfortable with your best shoes. Try a pair of "ReeBoks" for the best traction.

[Malidictus]

I'm... Not sure that answers my question? Just trying out different tyres doesn't work when I don't even know what's supposed to change from one set to another.

[Doc_Scranton]

Slicks then. These are the best for grip on any surface in this game. Malidictus.

[Malidictus]

OK, that helps considerably. What does "grip" actually do, though? Does it affect acceleration, how easy the car is to spin out or what? The rest of the stats are mostly self-explanatory but "handling" and "grip" aren't so straightforward.

[BlackWater]

The tires affect handling, as how fast the car can steer, how much tighter turns can be made at higher speeds without losing therr grip. In the garege you'll see the handling stat go up/down based on tires, armour and engine chosen, ther are tradeoff to everything and having the car fully engined, tire'd, exhausted and armoured up doesn't net you the best vehicle, Ive found the best vehicle for me based on what i want out of the car. Rolling tank vs. something nimble and quick or somehwre in between.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by BlackWater:

The tires affect handling, as how fast the car can steer, how much tighter turns can be made at higher speeds without losing therr grip.

Ah, I see. So the more handling, the faster steering responds and the less likely the car is to start skidding. Grip, I presime, additionally affects skidding on top of handling, then? But this is very helpful. Thank you kindly.

[Doc_Scranton]

If you go to the garage menu ingame, each tyre type tells you how it performs, Some are good on sand (Later quests) others are good all rounders. Each has an advantage and a drawback. I prefer the slicks for speed, but feel free to test all of them to find your own preference. Hope this helps you Malidictus.
Just in case you are still bewildered: https://www.tyroola.com.au/how-tyres-work/

That link is a Joke Malidictus.

[skidmark]

Tires and handling are separate influences. In other words their effects are separate but affect each other incidentally as any handling is affected by grip. Handling is the proportional quickness of steering due to control input. Higher levels of handling mitigate the hyperbolic curve. Some vehicles steer quick early and slow late, others opposite and many in between. The truck that carries the sail to the Big White is a case of slow early-fast late. There is also a spinout component which can be excacerbated by poor tire grip.
Some tires will spin a lot in sand and if you're pointing uphill you may not be able to go forward at all. I use the next to last sand tires (with the ribs) for all surfaces. The slight reduction in speed on packed surfaces not enough to bother switching IMO.
Handling is input, whether stick or keyboard. Traction is set by the tire type. Of course you want a high level of each for the Magnum Opus.

[Irish]

Honestly, I don't think surfaces matter, it says it does in the descriptions of the different tyres, but if you look at the stats, handling just gets increased. I'm on my second playthrough, and have noticed no difference on seperate surfaces. Just an overall increase.

[Malidictus]

Originally posted by skidmark:

*explanation*

Thank you kindly, that was very informative and exactly the kind of answer I was hoping for. From what you're describing, it sounds like handling controls the speed at which steering responds to control input, either button press or button release. Low handling would mean my steering would take longer to reach full deflection and longer to self-centre, which has the effect of inducing input lag and causing pilot-induced oscillation.

Grip I'm still not entirely sure of, but it seems to control engine power to the back wheels. Mad Max - like a lot of other vehicle games - doesn't actually seem to simulate traction at all, instead just reducing engine power on surfaces with low grip. That's why attempting to climb a hill with poor grip and a heavy car will cause my throttle to have a very weak response, barely revving the engine while swapping to more "grippy" wheels will cause the engine to rev. It would be more obvious if the wheels spun without moving the vehicle, but that doesn't seem to have been modelled.

I'm not sure how - if at all - grip affects a car's likelihood to spin out. It does seem like some cars are much more likely to spin out than others driving at the same speeds, but since I don't know the stats on NPC cars, I don't know what's causing it. I assume spinning out depends on handling, however, as my car got much more spin-happy the heavier I made it and the more handling I lost, despite using the exact same tyres.

Originally posted by Irish:

Honestly, I don't think surfaces matter, it says it does in the descriptions of the different tyres, but if you look at the stats, handling just gets increased. I'm on my second playthrough, and have noticed no difference on seperate surfaces. Just an overall increase.

There definitely is a was at one point. One of the reasons I asked is I had issues climbing sand dunes in The Dunes region with Pinkeye's Slicks. Hot-swapping to Gutgash's Sand Tyres made my car climb much better. Then again, that was WAAAY back in 2015. I'm told the game's had a few patches since them, which affected vehicle handling. In this iteration, I never had much issue climbing sand dunes even with Slicks, so that might have changed.

[skidmark]

Tires matter on different surfaces. If you get off the packed surface even a little bit the car slows down and will even downshift the ♥♥♥♥♥♥, that's the most noticeable effect.
The devs for this game really mastered the input. It's a lot more than just a static faster or slower "rate" while the key is pressed. There is also double hyperbolic curves in the rate and it's in microseconds. In other words the rate will change the increase itself faster or slower the longer the key is pressed.
Spinning out involves factors of overall weight, weight distribution, center of gravity and unsprung weight. You know those lightweight Spotters are likely to spin out when hitting the barrels in races. The devs probably used a single generic mathematical equation for tendency to spin but again, they did a great job of it, IMO.
Grip has to affect the tendency to spin, less traction, more tendency. You can only swap tires on the Magnum Opus of course.

[Malidictus]

Is there any way to affect the weight distribution on the Magnum Opus, then? I'm not sure how that would even affect the car's tendency to spin out, but I thought adding heavier armour and grills just increased the overall weight of the vehicle.

I have to say, though - as good as the system might be, Death Run vehicles randomly spinning out when hitting the barrels I'm required to hit in order to complete the race is one of the most annoying things I've run across in gaming. It means success or failure in the race is a roll of the dice.

[skidmark]

I don't think weight distribution is a factor in MM. A massive ram bumper would make a rael car almost impossible to handle.
Of course the races involve failures, it's not supposed to be easy. This game is way too easy anyway. For cars that typically spin out hitting the barrels have the wheels straight and let off the gas just before hitting them. If you have the throttle on and wheels turned you're more likely to spin.