Note that my response was entirely in response to what I quoted, and was admittedly off-topic in an HPDE thread. You said "surface area doesn't matter" in a paragraph that didn't make any mention of HPDE, giving the impression you were referring to all traction-related cases. Hence my giving of examples where surface area DOES matter.
I was just pointing out examples where the frictional forces between two surfaces was decided by phenomena beyond Ff = u*Fn.
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Oh, and Baker and the TechnoKats did tests on tank treads vs. wheels. See linked thread.
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And they found that even on a slippery surface like HPDE, surface area makes a (very slight) difference. On a surface like a carpet where interlocking between wheel rubber and the surface will be more likely, I'll bet that relationship is greater. However, since this thread is about HPDE, I'll stop posting and we can keep discussing via PM if you want.
The message I'm trying to drive home is: Designing by idealized physics equations is not always the best approach. There are cases where it isn't. Use them as very strong suggestions, but do some empirical tests to see if other factors come into play as well.