A simple tire tread model predicts numerous tire performance characteristics. The macro behavior of the rubber gripping the road under vertical load and horizontal force is hypothesized and used to model heat generation in the contact patch. Contact patch heating explains trends of tire performance with slip, pressure, load, camber, tread thickness, and several rubber characteristics. A pressure supported radial wound toroid tire body model is used to evaluate tire deflection, spring rate, and tread momentum loss variation with speed and load. Tire deflection and momentum loss changes with speed together with slip losses can be used to optimize high speed tire performance. New insight to the true effects of camber, tread heating, tread momentum, and surface rubber sliding is presented that is not covered by other works. The new hypothesis of sliding in the contact patch, slip and re-grip, may lead to new understanding of other tire phenomena.
