Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
I've been reading a lot about tires lately, and here's what I've picked up:
Many people put wider tires on performance cars to get a larger contact patch and more traction. This is WRONG. More contact patch does improve traction (despite what the standard friction equation from physics would have you think). However, contact patch is mostly a function of weight and air pressure, so a wider tire (all else being equal) has a contact patch with the same area that's wider but less long. This will give increased traction from lateral movement (e.g. cornering) but actually reduce traction when accelerating and braking, especially in wet conditions.
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I measured contact patch at various pressures and it didn't correlate well at all.