C38368
04-15-2018, 05:08 PM
I know that there are at least a few threads here already that touch on this subject; I've read those that I've found, and they leave me wanting.
Most discussions of this that I've seen sing the same refrain: you obviously want lots of rubber on the driven axle, to make sure that power gets to the road. But with the weight bias that most of us have over the front axle (and I am speaking of front engine, rear-wheel-drive cars for purposes of this thread), we need to make sure that the front end had enough traction so that rear-and traction end doesn't overwhelm front-end traction when turning, leading to understeer. Right, got it. But most of these threads are only considering tire width.
Every so often, someone pops in and mentions that mismatched tire height also exacerbates the problem. And we all know how many of us want that taller rear tire look. But what I've never seen, is a satisfactory explanation--even one based on pseudoscience or conjecture--as to why having a taller rear tire is bad for performance. Or at least, is bad in the same way as having a too-wide rear/too-narrow front is.
Anyway, any chance one of you could shed some light on this? Or at least send me to a dead thread that actually explains why mismatched diameters are bad, from a handling perspective? For purposes of this question, I'm wondering about performance, not necessarily longevity; buying tires less often is all well and good, but there has got to be a better explanation than tire rotation...
Thanks!
Most discussions of this that I've seen sing the same refrain: you obviously want lots of rubber on the driven axle, to make sure that power gets to the road. But with the weight bias that most of us have over the front axle (and I am speaking of front engine, rear-wheel-drive cars for purposes of this thread), we need to make sure that the front end had enough traction so that rear-and traction end doesn't overwhelm front-end traction when turning, leading to understeer. Right, got it. But most of these threads are only considering tire width.
Every so often, someone pops in and mentions that mismatched tire height also exacerbates the problem. And we all know how many of us want that taller rear tire look. But what I've never seen, is a satisfactory explanation--even one based on pseudoscience or conjecture--as to why having a taller rear tire is bad for performance. Or at least, is bad in the same way as having a too-wide rear/too-narrow front is.
Anyway, any chance one of you could shed some light on this? Or at least send me to a dead thread that actually explains why mismatched diameters are bad, from a handling perspective? For purposes of this question, I'm wondering about performance, not necessarily longevity; buying tires less often is all well and good, but there has got to be a better explanation than tire rotation...
Thanks!