Quote:
Originally Posted by Wally
Yep, very true imo, but....for a circuit racer it also matters what the grip level and handling caracteristic is for both combos.The lower side wall will have better handling due to stiffer side wall giving much better steering respons.
Its never that simple  |
In racing circles you will note that the formula boys all wear relatively tall sidewall tyres and the enclosed bodywork cars all have very low profile tyres. I am convinced that the main reason is brakes. Most enclosed body work race cars are resricted to an overall wheel diameter by the bodywork and very often by the requirement to run steel discs/rotors. That dictates the largest diameter discs/rotors to maximise the brake performance that also results in the shallowist profile tyre because the overall diameter is restricted. Where brakes and tyres are relatively free then the tyre profiles tend to be taller e.g. Formula 1 which is supposed to be the pinaccle of development.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ricola
Big wheels = big space for big brakes too!
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I agree but only if you can use them. On a bug for instance, it is doubtful that very large brake disc/rotor diameters would be useful as the suspension systems are not capable of transferring the braking performance to the tyre contact patch since all the bug suspensions suffer severe camber changes. That also mitigates against low profile tyres as the lower the profile the worse the tyres capability at coping with camber change.
evilC