In some cases YES !Originally Posted by 1951vbs
I discovered a few years ago that a wider tire on the rear was NOT better than the stock tire on a 3 wheel vehicle.
The vehicle came stock with a GoodYear 315/35/17 rear tire (12" wide), I replaced it with a Michelin 335/35/17 rear tire (13.25" wide) for the steamroller look. The Michelin rubber compound was softer and tackier yet broke loose much quicker than the smaller Goodyear tire, I did not like the fact that I would loose the rear end way more often than when I had the Goodyear tire. After TWO instances of spinning out of control in the rain with the Michelin I replaced that new Michelin with a New 315 Goodyear and all was fine with the occasional (on purpose) burn out.
The following year the vehicle manufacturer started replacing the rear tire with a SMALLER tire, a GoodYear 285/40/17 (10" wide) because it supposedly gave better traction. The way it was explained to me was this way.....
Imagine 500 pounds pushing down on your 2" contact patch, the small contact patch is the focus point of the weight, so for figures sake that relates to 250 pounds per inch pushing down on the rubber, the larger contact patch has more surface area to distribute this weight. So for figures sake lets take a 4" contact patch from a Car Tire and divide the 500 pounds by 4" that relates to 125 pounds per inch pushing down on the rubber, the larger the contact patch has more surface area to distribute the weight. Yes you have more rubber for contact but not as much down pressure per square inch because the pressure is being distributed on a wider patch. You will probably notice it more on a wet surface than any other surface. A smaller contact patch supposedly makes the tire grab better. That's how it was explained to me and I am not an engineer to say otherwise. However I would still place a CT on my Wing if I rode the amount of miles that some of you do but with caution in the rain.
Food for thought
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