A contact-state obtaining apparatus for obtaining a contact state in which a tire of a wheel of a vehicle contacts a road surface, the apparatus including a deformation detecting device which is supported by the wheel and which detects a deformation of the tire that is caused by a force exerted to the tire in a direction parallel to the road surface; and a contact-state obtaining portion which obtains, as the contact state, (a) a slipping state of the tire relative to the road surface and/or (b) the force exerted to the tire in the direction parallel to the road surface, based on the deformation of the tire detected by the deformation detecting device.