i don't think many are putting on a larger footprint than stock....not in the rear at least.

the pre-04 225's in the rear are really a 245....on 18's, most are using 255's....however, most 255's are rounded at the shoulder and therefore the contact patch is roughly a 245 anyway.

the '04+ are 245's to begin with - an honest 245 at that.

but, what people are doing is changing the "track" of the car due to offset variances.

which may or may not improve the handling of the car.

if i could shave 5 mils of offset off my front SSR's, my car would handle better.

 

The size of the footprint or contact patch has nothing to do with the width of the tire; it only depends on the tire pressure (and the weight on that corner, which can be considered constant). Raise the pressure, the footprint shrinks proportionately; lower the pressure, it grows proportionately.

 

Just received my Rays Dura-Nuts. Wow, these are LIGHT

They don't even have any perceivable weight when you pick one up, compared to the noticeable weight of your regular lug nut.

 

Yer NUTS!

 

I'm going to post HUGE pictures of my NUTS later.

 

Naw, probably a "thumbnail" will be more than adequate.

 

and i thought that with size would come heft. maybe we won't see them if you post them if they are that light.

 

they're made out of anti-matter

 

So.....uh.....are we going to post pix of nuts to see whose are the biggest?

Reijo

 

-sure it does....you can't make a 255 narrow to a 205....or vice-versa.

-mathematically, of course.....but i don't see too many people running around with 10psi in their tires to maximize their contact patch. from a practical standpoint, there isn't much (if any) flex in a 255/35/18 sidewall to garner any measurable footprint increase/decrease by virtue of fluctuating the air pressures, by say, +- 4psi, the normal range.