Will Wider Tyres Always Give A Car More Grip?

You might think a wider contact patch will always give you more grip, but is that actually the case? Tyre Reviews investigates
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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.

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Comments

☆★THEBOOSTEDBRIT★☆

(null)

06/22/2018 - 15:05 |
122 | 0

I see Pirelli is testing the new ‘Hyper-Ultra-Mega-Smooth-I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Not-Butter-Soft tyres then…

06/22/2018 - 21:12 |
22 | 0
GTRTURTLE 🔰 🐢(Oo \ S K Y L I N E / oO) (Koen

Cough Mustang Cough

06/22/2018 - 15:09 |
24 | 114

Oh do shut up with this already.

06/22/2018 - 15:38 |
14 | 6

Congratulations on having more dislikes than the post has likes lol

06/22/2018 - 16:25 |
6 | 4
TheDriver 1

Just look at the original Lotus Elan. End of.

06/22/2018 - 16:02 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

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?

06/22/2018 - 16:38 |
210 | 4
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I did.

06/22/2018 - 17:08 |
30 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Almost everyone did

06/23/2018 - 05:21 |
12 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

i did.

06/23/2018 - 18:05 |
2 | 0
ModernChaos

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

That clickbait though

06/25/2018 - 11:29 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

It will give it massive understeer thats for sure

06/22/2018 - 16:45 |
0 | 0
AAA Insurance

Assuming that you’re talking about maximum grip, and no variables are changed, yes.

06/22/2018 - 16:58 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

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.

06/22/2018 - 18:20 |
2 | 0
Cameroop

Disappointingly misleading thumbnail

06/22/2018 - 20:36 |
22 | 0
Anonymous

Suspension setup, caster, toe and last… C A M B E R

06/22/2018 - 23:17 |
0 | 0
Turbonation

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.

06/23/2018 - 00:47 |
10 | 2