Originally posted by mmarfan:
Oh yeah, anyone notice a greater braking force to stop 18's, that's what point they're really pushing. I see Blue Streak says it's bull plop. Anyone else??
No chance! The difference is that a greater contact patch (with wider wheels and tyres) will give you more grip, at least on dry or damp roads. That means that the brakes can actually stop the car faster because they won't lock up so easily, providing they're good enough.
So basically you will never lose any braking performance using bigger tyres, it's just that if your brakes ain't that great you won't get any benefit. If your brakes are already good enough to lock up your current tyres in the dry, braking performance can only get better with more grip!
My Mondeo has 278mm front discs (same as SVT I think) with EBC Greenstuff pads, and I managed to lock the wheels once in the dry from 90MPH on a dual-carriageway. That's with good 215/45x17 tyres. So those brakes certainly aren't "overwhelmed" by my tyre size.
Of course, snow is a different matter - you will get poorer performance with wider tyres because they won't cut into the snow as blue streak says. I drive in the snow with my 17s on no problem, you just have to take things carefully and
go slow! It's as much about your driving technique in the snow as your tyre size, use the gearbox wisely to control your speed rather than the brakes.
HTH, Paul.
