[Shotimes] yet another tire/rim question

[Ron Porter]

Well, BMWs are also RWD!!!

In a recent car mag (CRS strikes...I think it was C&D, but it could have
been R&T or AutoWeek) they interviewed a guy who is a trained, professional
tire tester. One of their observations was that the tire companies are least
concerned about a tire's performance on a skid pad.

Whatever, but with all things being equal.....which they never are.....yes,
a wider contact patch would produce some difference in g-forces. In reality,
there are so many variables involved here (rim width, tire construction,
tire pressure, tread width (varies among mfrs), tire compound, road surface
& temp, suspension setup, etc) that just going to a wider tire probably will
not produce anything readily discernible. And, going to a wider tire without
getting a wider rim can reduce grip and steering response.

I have retold the story more than a few times about the tires on the 911.
basically, I swapped 245/45/16 back to the stock 225/50/16 on the 16x8"
rims, and EVERYTHING about the handling and ride improved.

I feel it is far more important to have a correct rim width for the tire
that you run, and to have a better set of tires, than to worry about the
width. A "good" 215 or 225 tire on a correct rim width has more cornering
and handling capability than 99%+ of SHO pilots. And this is on the track.
On the street, it is next to impossible to get near the limits (at least on
the roads in much of the country).

Ron Porter