Tire width: dry/wet?

[colin cohen <102621.2256@compuserve.com>]

    27-Nov-95 08:45 CST
Sb: Re: snizes Fm: INTERNET:PDQSHIP@aol.com

<<I come from a ProRally background, so have some experience in snow and low
traction......  The bigger argument to width is the weight of the car vs the
width, I ran 185 snows on a 14X6 rim in my PR scirocco at 2000 pounds and found
the tires tended to float cuz there wasn't enough weight on them.....
 Hardly a problem (thanks audi, I think:~) with the audis, esp the q's......
 They would be nicely described as "portly".......   And really what happens
is that the narrower tires tend to make the q's float on the sidewall, not the
tread.....  Hence, the recommendation for the 205 on a 60 series........
  My folks live in northern MI in prorally country, and I can offer BTDT
testimony that that 3 tenths of an inch doesn't make or break the snow
performance, the 60 vs 65 does, especially in the wet/snow highway
driving.....>>

This was real news to me: I was told by the comp. dept of British Leyland, ow
Rover/BMW, that the reason why we went to narrower section tires on our
competition Mini Coopers was precisely to prevent the effect you say is caused
by the narrower tire. The theory was that the wider the section, the greater
the weight dispersal and hence the less force being used to displace water,
crud, mud and snow. It therefore was no surprise to me that when I bought my
4000 CSQ in 86, the winter quipment option had the narrower section tires. This
is the case still as it was the Audi marketing theory that most Q drivers would
think themselves bullet prrof in the wet etc, so they were given the best
equipment option. Since the quatrro has enjoyed little real advantage on
unimpaired dry roads, this was not something Audi dealers were trying to
optimize except for those who demanded it, and expected to replace their tires
in the winter.

So can you explain what you mean about causing the sidewall to float... I
understand that the narrower section tires have sidewalls which are not as
STIFF as their wider counterparts, promoting roll under and distortion at
10/10. But this only ocurrs in the dry. In the wet you loose traction long
before this happens?