Quote:
Originally Posted by smh_amg_m4gts
Does this mean that the .5 difference won't make much of an impact on grip?
|
No, his point has absolutely nothing to do with the potential benefits of the wider wheel.
He was merely informing the poster he replied to that track width is defined as the measurement between the
center line of the two wheels. So, making the wheels wider does not change the track width. Rather, you must change the offset to make the measured track width larger (or smaller).
As a corollary to that, you can actually
increase the track width while at the same time keeping wheel width the same, or even when
reducing wheel width. Similarly, you can
decrease the track width while at the same time keeping wheel width the same, or even when
increasing wheel width. Again, all of this is driven by offset.
So the width from the outside of one wheel to the outside of the other is irrelevant in determining track width by definition. Now, whether or not that distance is less important than, more important than, or as important as the track width measurement in terms of how it effects the car's handling or other characteristics is another discussion entirely.