Quote:
Originally Posted by p911gt3
The reason people are mentioning a larger area contact patch with bigger around tires is because the contact patch is 2 dimensional. In theory a 1 inch increase in diameter with no increase in weight should net a slightly longer contact patch.(that was a pretty scientific statement huh?) As in most things, this should also be subject to the law of diminishing returns. 
IMHO, people forget that there is also a tendency of the contact patch, at rest, to shorten when the tires are widened. In the end, I think we need to program a simulator to calc the contact patch at rest and a variety of loads. Maybe by saying this someone will build one for me  |
that contact patch will have to be narrower in order to make that physically possible though.
on another front, all this talk about how the mustang has better rims and tires so it isnt fair is stupid. thats like saying that its not fair that the brz is hundreds of pounds lighter. the mustang is cheaper so why do you think spending more money on the already more expensive competitor is fair?