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Almost all of us grew up with cars that had far too narrow tires for the amount of power we were putting down. The answer was to go to a wider tire, and it almost always improved traction. In those days, a tire that had a 7 inch tread width was W-I-D-E. But, as many of us know, what worked in the 60's and 70's does not work 50 years later.
There is a point at which going wider reduces traction, rather than improving it. Traction is improved by increased downward force on the tire, if the force is applied evenly the full width of the tread. That is where the problem is. The greatest downforce is applied at the outer edges of the rim. Adding to that small area of downforce is the inherent stiffness of the sidewall on street tires. If a tire is too wide, the downforce on the edges will result in an equal upforce on the center of the tire. You may have seen a burnout in which the downforce on the tire is not equalized...the stripe on the pavement is darker on the edges than it is toward the middle.. THAT is reduced traction.
In drag racing, flexible "wrinkle-wall" slicks were initially designed to help equalize the downforce across the entire contact patch, as well as to allow the tire to stretch, or grow taller, at very high revolutions, allowing for more speed on the top end. Street tires cannot, and must not, do that.
So, when you think about going to a wider tire, consider what that is doing to your contact patch under stress, whether drag racing, or pushing the limits in a corner.
I just did this. I have a base '08 with stock 18/19 wheel size. I went from 295s to 305/30s on the back about 3 weeks ago. (I think I have 255s in the front). I am now getting traction control issues pretty frequently. This has been remedied by turning TC off, for now. The tires definitely bulge over the rims. Slightly, but I notice it. I haven't had a chance to do any canyon runs with them, as it's been wet here lately, but with the bulge, the tires roll over a little bit and I'm not entirely sure my contact patch will reach the entire width of the tire. I went to 305s for better traction.
If I did it again, I'd go back to 295s. The traction control issues are annoying. Can't speak to corner performance yet.
265-35-18 front with 305-30-19 rear are fine in nitto invo. You have to stay in the correct ratio which I forget at this moment do more searches to find that and make sure your in the F to R ratio. The TC does not care how wide the tire is.
265-35-18 front with 305-30-19 rear are fine in nitto invo. You have to stay in the correct ratio which I forget at this moment do more searches to find that and make sure your in the F to R ratio. The TC does not care how wide the tire is.
^^That is what I am hearing from everyone that has the nitto's and invo's. They have had no issues tracking or daily driving. For the simple fact that they run slightly smaller. Right now i am leaning towards buying the either of the those two brands in the 305 in the spring. And if for some reason I get TC issues I think there is a way to change the tire size with HP tuners or Diablo Sport. I have both. Any other reply's are welcome. Thanks to all who have responded.
I've got Continental ExtremeContact Sport in 305/30/19 for the rear and 265/35/18 for the front. The front seems to bulge out a bit more than the rear but I think it might be due to the width of the wheel. I think it would look better if the front wheel were 9" rather than 8.5".
01-09-2019, 07:18 PM
