WTF did I just watch? Bronco vs TRX vs Raptor vs Tundra vs Titan, Tug-of-War!!!

[azrugger]

You must've missed the episode of American Top Gear when Tanner Faust won the tow competition with an Ecoboost F150 (think it was a 3.5 Ecoboost) vs a V8 Chevy and V8 Tundra, and it wasn't even close. They towed a Boeing 727 for time and the F150 absolutely spanked them. I think it's season one & titled "King of Trucks".

I have a 2018 F150 2.7 Ecoboost with some aftermarket mods and a tune that cranks out over 460 hp & over 515 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels. 5 Star Tuning regularly modifies 2.7 Ecoboost F150s to produce 550+ hp & 625+ lb-ft torque to the rear wheels (meaning that's 600+ hp at the engine) with the dynos sheets to prove it. The thing that got me with this video is the Bronco doing so well with the weight differences

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[pfbz]

Silly video, but why-oh-why couldn't Ford have given us a nicer digital display like the TRX or at a minimum a useable tachometer like in the Raptor?

The Bronco dash display by comparison is comically primitive

 

[Wolfie272]

Justifies the gearing in the Bronco.

 

[gearwrench]

13 minutes of my life I'll never get back

 

[Snydermann]

For sale, low mileage Bronco, mostly driven 4 feet at a time.

 

[Jsullivan]

I hate these tug comparisons... They make no sense unless ever car was on the exact same tires.

Throw some weight in the back of the Truck.
Who goes on snow/ice in a pick up with no weight in the back?
Even my 1 ton 4x4 diesel slides without weight in the back.

 

[unfortunate]

I work on quantum computing, which involves some physics. That said, I'm a computer scientist by training, not a quantum physicist.

The physics in this case are simple enough that I'm comfortable explaining what was going on:

The patch of ground where all 8 of the tires connect during a tug-of-war like this were at various points either 1) icy and snowy, or 2) carved out into mud-holes from earlier rounds.

In either case 1 or 2, there is very little traction to be had on that slippery surface. So you have two forces pulling against each other, neither of which are very strong at all due to lack of contact resistance. All of the mechanical force is in the torque spinning the wheels, all 8 of which are spinning quite freely. Since neither of the lateral forces is very strong (since the mechanical force is burned in spin), no lateral motion results.

This is also why the vehicles with the best tires/treads, and the largest contact patch (wider 35s have a larger contact patch than skinnier 33s) won each heat. The treads gave slightly better bite, on a slightly larger contact area between tire and ground, which allowed the radial force to translate a bit better into lateral force, giving that vehicle the edge. Weight of vehicle, horsepower, torque rating... those were all secondary to contact resistance. That also explains why similar 35s with similar tread depth tied: the factors that matter in force translation were nearly identical. Results would have been different if contact resistance were stronger, and thus played less of a role versus weight/hp/etc.

Summary: more power and more weight don't help if you can't translate it to motion via traction.

More weight matters for traction..Fn=mg

 

[Classic Lover]

How is this still going? The only reason the bronco had a chance was because of the snow and ice on the ground. Put them on pavement and the trx will drag the bronco till it runs out of fuel. Here is a ford raptor vs a trx on a real surface.

 

[Garemlin]

That was pretty cool. But they should have moved the location a little after each pull.

 

[rayhil67]

Yup. I’m pretty sure my Kubota could pull any of those tire-spinning vehicles around a snowy field…

Nice and you got the Kubota orange bronco it was my second choice

 

[ElJeffe]

More weight matters for traction..Fn=mg

Indeed, but in this case it was the secondary factor, behind contact resistance. It'd take a lot more weight to overcome that, given the slick surfaces involved.

 

[zombie]

Reminds me of the old top gear episode with Jeremy in an AMG Black series pulling against a tug of war team (and losing). Once the tires are spinning, all bets are off.

 

[Moto26]

Nice and you got the Kubota orange bronco it was my second choice

Haha! Our Bronco is more like Caterpillar yellow. Maybe I should get a code orange Raptor to match my tractor!

 

[Ronaldo]

That’s like running the summer
Olympics track event on a ice rink.

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