[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Find me a race team anywhere driving on dry pavement that wants to go to a skinnier tire to increase speed. Good luck.

again, apples and oranges.

2 things, a wider contact patch allows for a wider (but same sized) contact patch which is better for cornering. Also as was stated earlier, a wider tire means more tread/mass to absorb heat which allows the tire to get up to the right temp for optimal grip vs a smaller tire with less tread getting up to a temp that's too high for optimal grip.


In theory, you could go to a skinnier tire that was also very tall (I believe Porsche did that with the 935), but then a larger diameter would mean more rotating mass and more unsprung weight.