This crazy guy already beat me to it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by2_N...nhFA3Z&index=7

Don't mind the "Acura S2000" riff raft, but he has many videos showing the car on 205 tires all around, as well as drifting on some Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires in who knows what skinny size..

The reason I posted that video is because right around 4:00 in he gets bored in the middle of a donut and decides to take a drink from canned coffee in his cup holder.

 

Some final thoughts...

Depending on the specific tire, car, setup, and driver, it is possible that in some cases 255/40-17s might be "faster" or "better" on, say, a 9" wheel than on a 10" wheel. Maybe...

Quite a few years ago, *everybody* in MotoGP was on 17" wheels with lower-profile tires, and then Gary McCoy astounded everyone by kicking ass with 16.5" wheels with taller-sidewall tires and a riding style that was OUT there. By mid-season, the *conventional* wheel/tire size wisdom had been turned on its head, at the *highest* level of 2-wheel motorsport, due to the riding style of ONE unconventional rider (watch the movie "Faster"!).

There is no one WAY. You do what works for you. Develop what you have and drive the wheee out of it

I.e., there's no universally applicable answer, even limiting the question to the s2000, to your original question.

 

Absolutely right! Happens in every form of motor sport. That is where my "handicapping/limiting" is derived from, not that case specifically, just the idea. There is no way to discover new ways to go fast if you just stick to what everyone else is doing.

 

What I'm getting out of this thread is that if the only goal is maximum grip, go in this order:

1. Best-compound tires you can afford to track
2. Widest section width available in that model of tire that will fit in the wheel well
3. Widest wheel you can buy with an offset that makes it possible to mount that tire in your wheel well.

Correct?

 

So the TTC guys run 225s due to classing points.

Autocrossers have more (and quicker) transitions than track work, but still prefer to cram more tire when possible (obviously more wheel would be preferable).

So should casual track guys all be running 295s on 18x11s?

 

if you have track experience, #1 might be true. If I was a noob, but had lots of money, I would not run Hoosiers or other brand of slicks. less feedback, not as friendly when they break away sometimes

also, depends on what class you are running for competition as well. by the best allowable tire within class for the rims in which you can afford. 9s are cheap, 10s are not

 

Most definitely yes

 

^ what he said lol!

 

^ what he said lol!
[/quote]

And the truly hardcore should be running donuts all around!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPh90...EEEFA&index=49

 

Agreed when its more of an after thought. Ideally you would already know what size tires your going to run and would then get the wheels, ones that maximize the tire size you can fit. Counter intuitively, when you start running max size fitment tires, running wider wheels that put some stretch on them actually makes fitment easier due to the suspension geometry/camber under movement. For example, running 295 out back on my car fit on a 11.5" wide rim without rubbing vs a 11" due to how close the tolerances were with that size rubber, and I needed the sidewall to pull slightly to keep the corners of the tire from hitting the inner and out fender under suspension compression, due to wheel path as well as the shape of the fenders. Point is, if all I had was a 11" wheel at the same offset as the 11.5", id have to scale the tire size down to keep from rubbing, when in normal circumstance where room isn't an issue, a 295 would fit perfectly well on a 11".