Group,
This tire discussion is good for all. As has been mentioned, tires
produced for our type racing is becoming more critical each year.
The idea that a wide tire won't work at Bonneville has been around for a
long time. In the 50's and 60's there were lots of Indy take-offs that
fit our purpose well, and at a low price. These tires, especially the
fronts, presented a narrow contact with the ground and worked very well
under most all conditions.
The first car that I remember that ran a wide tire was Tom McMullens
street roadster. This was in the early 60's. Subsequently others have
tried the wider tire with varied success. In my opinion, the reason that
the wider tire got a bad rap was because the cars they were tried on had
handling problems that were magnified, and when the surface is wet (even
with a great course, as the day heats up water comes to the surface) the
wider tire tends to hydroplane. In the thinking of the early days, the
tires that nearly all of us run now would have been consider wide
tires.
Tom
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