Quote:
Originally Posted by 2011 Nismo#91
Interesting to know didn't think that large front tire would work properly when doing sharp turns. One thing "The more rubber you have contacting the road" size doesn't affect contact patch, weight and psi does.
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At first I thought it might not clear the knuckle because it felt like there was only about half an inch of gap between it amd the tire, so I thought I'll need a 5mm spacer or so, but then I tried to fit the wheel with the 285 on it without a spacer and it fit, I stuck my finger between the tire and knuckle and it seemed like the gap hasn't even gotten smaller. Even when cornering hard the car still tends to oversteer rather tham understeer, like before. I have no drivability issues with the 285s up front, I know that my 9.5" wide front wheel may be slightly too narrow for a 285 but it still seems to work out really well.
Also, you are correct that with a wider tire, since there is less weight per area width-wise, that you loose more contact patch length-wise, because the wider tire becomes "more round" and therefore reduces it's contact patch, so it pretty much balances out.
With that being said, there is another factor (out of many more like camber angle, compound stiffness, road hardness, ect) and it is the fact that the more surface area your tire has, the less air pressure it requires to hold the weight desired. This means that you can run this tire with less pressure to acheive the same result that a narrower tire will give you with more air pressure...and this is what causes the wider tire to have more surface area in the end, I can run at 32-34 psi instead of the 36-38 I used to run.