I plan on going from a 16X8 rim w/ 255/50/16 BFGoodrich drag radials to a 15X10 drag lite rim w/ 295/50/15 (probably Yokohama from Summit). The height of the 295 tire is 26.7" and tread is 10.1" compared to the 255 which is 26.1"tall w/ a 9.7" tread. I know i'll get better traction w/ the 295 tire, but how will it effect the handling? The side wall is deeper w/ the 295 so that's a negative for handling, but what about the wider footprint and a more rigid and harder tread on the 295 (the bfg is pretty soft)? Approximately how many g's would i loose? Would it be like going from .80 g's to .70 g's or more like .80g's to .78g's? Thanks a lot

 

In steady state cornering, I wouldn't think you'd lose anything. In the slalom you might fall off a couple of mph. I think that the 15 with the right amount of air in it would actually pick up gs on the skid pad.

Hard suspensions are essential for dynamic cornering. If the car is rolled over a lot and you want to go the other way, the car has to roll all the way over to the other side. That's why stock body and production GT cars are sprung so tight. In steady state/ oval cornering, balance is much more important. That's why NASCAR made the rule concerning suspension stiffness and ride height. The oval track cars used to be super soft and would bottom out a lot. The sears point and watkins glen cars are sprung a lot tighter.

I guess the point to the story is that it depends on what kind of driving you do. If you throw the car around a lot then you want a hard low profile suspension. If your smoothe and are looking for a good launch then the new wheel/tire combo you have is going to work best.