Wider front tyres...why?

[moo moo nel]

Reading the Hyper Rev magazine (Civic) ...

Most Japanese tuners are using wider tyres at front
e.g. 205/50R15 @ front and 195/55R15 @ rear

Why?

[[NAV]]

normally put wider tyres for better traction.. cos its a front wheel drive car... they are on the front

[Limbo]

also are they FWD? if so you wanna get better traction out of the tyres that drive the car

sorry just noticed FWD.....

[zco]

yes, wider tyres traction

or they might just have wider tyres to compensate for wider aftermarket front wheels

[e240]

in a FWD, the front Tyre takes all the load - Acceleration, braking and cornering, the rear is "just along for the ride". Hence the wider front tyres.

A Narrower rear also tends to encourage more oversteer, which, in a way is what you'd want for a FWD circuit car.

[teaseR]

Reading the Hyper Rev magazine (Civic) ...

Most Japanese tuners are using wider tyres at front
e.g. 205/50R15 @ front and 195/55R15 @ rear

Why?

would it be the same because they went to a lower profile for a wider tyre?

[Limbo]

huh? ^^^^

The reason they use 205/50/15 is cos that's the closets height in that profile to 195/55/15.

[moo moo nel]

would it be the same because they went to a lower profile for a wider tyre?

the overall diamenter might be similar
but the width 205 =/= 195

[moo moo nel]

in a FWD, the front Tyre takes all the load - Acceleration, braking and cornering, the rear is "just along for the ride". Hence the wider front tyres.

A Narrower rear also tends to encourage more oversteer, which, in a way is what you'd want for a FWD circuit car.

Are you running this setup too?

[zco]

would it be the same because they went to a lower profile for a wider tyre?

205/50 means 205mm wide, at 50% of 205 in thickness/profile
ie: 205mm wide, and profile of 102.50mm

195/55 gives
195mm wide, and profile of 107.25mm

[Rice_banger]

i always tought in a FWD you need the best tyres upfront , but this has opened my mind

meh if only i had the money i would run good tyres all round

[SeverAMV]

wider tyres does not mean more traction, it only means more stability due to the wider contact patch (contact patch deforms, contact patch doesnt actually affect grip in dry weather). it is as e240 says, in an ff, the front wheels take all the load from braking, accelerating and cornering. the reason why they use wider front tyres is because it helps in reducing tyre temperatures by exposing more tyre surface to the air.