Question about tire spin

I don't know if let the tire/tyre pressure down a few PSI works positively/ negatively but what I know is that when I went to Dubai for a desert Toyota Land Cruiser racing, the first thing what those lads did before we approached the soft sands was they lowered the PSI to what I remember 20PSI or so, the tires looked somehow flat. I remember that I specifically asked them about this and the response was ''to not to let the car down in the sand''.

I would imagine that similar technique may work on bad snow?...

Link to similar thread (driving on sand) here:
http://uae4x4.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=121

 

It doesn't work on snow. Lower tire pressure helps a tire float on top of loose material, such as sand. For sand driving this is necessary since sand is usually deep. If you just have a few inches of sand over a hard road, then you don't need to float, but would instead want the tire to sink down to the hard surface where it can get traction.

This sinking down to the hard surface is the idea behind skinny, hard tires and snow driving. In general, snow does not provide enough flotation for wheeled vehicles to float on top. The only recourse is to sink down through the snow and grip the hard surface underneath. Reducing tire pressure only serves to trap a larger layer of lubricating snow between the tire and the hard surface, reducing traction.

Floating on snow generally requires a tracked vehicle, such as a snow cat or snowmobile. The tracks provide enough surface area to float without producing a slick hole.

Tom

 

What Tom wrote; in a word, density. Picture the weight of a bucket of snow versus that of a bucket of sand, then picture what it would take to float on snow.

 

The drive tires are never in the back on the FWD Prius. :cheer2:

 

They are when I am in reverse. So are my headlights