Will Wider Tyres Always Give A Car More Grip?

It’s a simple theory: you fit a wider tyre, and you get a wider contact patch with the road, resulting in an increase in grip. But as Jon Benson of Tyre Reviews explains, things aren’t always so straightforward with the world of those rubber hoops.

With that in mind, Benson put together an extensive test using different width tyres on a BMW 3-series: 225, 255 and 285mm. He also varied how the tyres were fitted across the axles, opting for both square and ‘staggered’ setups, including an extreme 225 front/285 rear split. The 3-series test car was run in both wet and dry conditions.

Take a watch and see how the test panned out.