Bringing The Tatra Home
April 20, 2013 2 Comments
We’re off to the Czech Republic tomorrow where the fully reassembled Tatra is ready and waiting for the first off-road tests since the overhaul and installation of the Central Tire Inflation System.
The drive to Kopřivnice is over 1,300km and will take about twelve hours. Once there, we’ll spend a few days in the workshop and then head out for testing before bringing the Tatra home.
Pictures and video when we get back.
Erg Machine 
Beautiful truck. Just thinking. How many races do you figure the central tire air will be a benefit? I realize I may not understand the reason for this system after asking the question. This central air is completely new to me.
For the type of rallies we are planning to compete in, we will need the CTIS every time. The tire pressure is a very important parameter for a 10 ton truck, much more so than for a car. If the tires are not sufficiently inflated, they will explode when driving at high speed. The rallies we are planning to compete in will have mixed types of terrain: sand, dunes, dirt tracks and rocks. In order to have sufficient traction in the sand, the tires must be deflated. The tires we are using have a diameter of about 51 inches. We have the same ones on the Scania. From experience, it takes at least 20-30 minutes to deflate all 4 tires to the right pressure for the dunes using the usual inflation valve. Then, once you come back out of the dunes, you have to inflate them again to drive on the hard dirt tracks. This simply takes too long to competitive. The CTIS doesn’t have the same type of valve as the regular inflation pin, so the tires can be deflated and inflated much more rapidly. This can also be done while driving so you don’t have to stop the truck and get out to inflate them.
Then, there is the amazing. In the 2012 Africa Eco Race, Tomáš Tomeček had a punctured tire on Stage 5. He managed to drive 140km at race speed using the CTIS to keep the tire inflated so that he could finish the stage.
In desert rallies, usually 4-wheel-drive cars are not allowed to have a CTIS. Only trucks and 2-wheel-drive cars can use this.