While it would be nice to not call my interpretation 'silly' or 'absolute shit', I appreciate you taking the time to write these replies.
I think we both have the same understanding of unbalancing a car to transfer loads around the tyres. Where we differ is on what is happening precisely on the surface of the tyre at any given moment. You think my interpretation is completely opposing yours, when I really don't think they are that far apart.
You describe a clear separation between grip and slip - two phases, where heat is only generated in the second phase, and is a 'byproduct' of the slip. You also describe it as 'static friction' and 'dynamic friction', where only 'dynamic friction' causes heat. In my interpretation, there is no clear line where one ends and one begins, and that they are inextricably linked - there is just one continuously evolving phase.
For a start, I'm not sure you can call a
rolling tyre (even in a fairly steady state) 'static friction'. The fact that is rolling is one of the main reasons why tyres are so hard to understand - there is variation in the loads on the contact patch at all times, and can't possibly exhibit identical behaviour to a traditional example of static friction (such as box on the ground). In a simplified model, they would be similar, but in the context of discussing tyre slip, I don't think such comparison is useful, as you have to consider what is happening on the surface at the microscopic level (I know I keep saying that but I really think it's important). While I have no doubt that a basic rolling tyre is in a more stable state than if it is in a detectable slip, I don't think it could ever be described as 'static'. The technicalities of friction types would make for a very long discussion, but I think a rolling tyre can be described as exhibiting 'dynamic friction' all the time, until the car stops moving.
So what I'm suggesting is that the transition to slip from 'grip' is a continuous process that involves all of the elements we've been describing from the moment a tyre starts rolling at a reasonable speed, even if there is no noticeable slip. What we perceive as a subtle slip from TBO/TTO is already well beyond the 'starting point' of slip, which was happening on the microscopic scale long before the driver can notice. This microscopic slip, at a fairly steady state, would be perceived by the driver as 100% grip. It just continues to ramp up to point where it is noticeable.
As for temperature fluctuations not causing slip, well that's a really difficult one to call based on how I'm describing it as one process. I think we agree that
more temperature definitely causes
more slip when already in a big slide, but whether it was there at the start is almost like a chicken/egg scenario. Just like the microscopic beginnings of slip are indetectable by the driver, the microscopic temperature fluctuations would also be there, indetectable even by sensors. What starts first? Well I guess you could say it was slip, as the surface temperature is not going to vary until the tyre starts rolling, but the temperature response would be instantaneous (at the microscopic scale), so I don't think it matters either way. By the time both are detectable, they are directly affecting each other, with more temperature making it more difficult to recover the slip (which I think was the original discussion).
And with regards to the F1 wet tyre warming - I wasn't talking about a drying track. The drivers warm the tyres by weaving in
full wet conditions, and the only way I can explain that is because it must still be possible to generate surface temperature fluctuations with slip on the parts of tread making direct contact with the track, even with water everywhere:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeXKPm_MYvw
