Will Wider Tyres Always Give A Car More Grip?
It’s a simple theory: you fit a wider tyre, and you get a wider contact patch with the road, resulting in an increase in grip. But as Jon Benson of Tyre Reviews explains, things aren’t always so straightforward with the world of those rubber hoops.
With that in mind, Benson put together an extensive test using different width tyres on a BMW 3-series: 225, 255 and 285mm. He also varied how the tyres were fitted across the axles, opting for both square and ‘staggered’ setups, including an extreme 225 front/285 rear split. The 3-series test car was run in both wet and dry conditions.
Take a watch and see how the test panned out.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
(null)
I see Pirelli is testing the new ‘Hyper-Ultra-Mega-Smooth-I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Butter-Soft tyres then…
Cough Mustang Cough
Oh do shut up with this already.
Congratulations on having more dislikes than the post has likes lol
Just look at the original Lotus Elan. End of.
Did anyone look at the thumbnail and assume that the BMW will be driven around the track with 3 extra tires somehow attached to its existing tire?
I did.
Almost everyone did
i did.
That clickbait though
It will give it massive understeer thats for sure
Assuming that you’re talking about maximum grip, and no variables are changed, yes.
going wider can improve grip but only up to a point. If your suspension isn’t designed/ tuned to take advantage of the wider tires than you will only beneift so much. If you go wider , you should stay close to the stock size.
Disappointingly misleading thumbnail
Suspension setup, caster, toe and last… C A M B E R
Wider tyres don’t give you more grip, it’s simple physics. Softer tyres will help, and the wider they are, the softer they can be.