I am away from here most of the time so patience is required. It takes a while for me to type something to detail. Technical support is only good if you use it. This is technical support.
Remember the cars i build are driven normally like as in transportation that your wife can drive and run many hot laps on the road course track. When i built the Charger [car#2] our goal was to run the magic number at the Glen [Thunder Road] of 2.5 minutes on the full course on street tires and still have the wife drive it. We did both. The owner & wife passed away at 52 recently so track tires on the track are out of the question. I am now the caretaker of the car - awaiting license plates - so if i am lucky i will bring it to Carlisle and i may even run it at the Glen in June. It has factory type cruise control for those 80 mph interstate runs. The car is a blast to drive fast and easy to drive slow.
The thinking is always to put huge tires on the car to make it handle better but huge tires come with compromises. A 26 inch tall tire with 10 inches of tread fits perfectly and looks perfect. No compromises means there is no rubbing or hitting in full travel and high speed driving/turning situations. The bigger tires require the proper selection of HD suspension parts and car needs structural modifications to eliminate flex. In other words back up the grip. I am not convinced that staggered tire sizes is practical from a handling geometry viewpoint on these cars from years of laps and normal {?} driving.
You have to back up the big tires with good hardware on a solid platform. Weld & box the k frame is mandatory as are adjustable shocks, boxed lower control arms, aftermarket upper control arms, firm feel 3 box etc. 16:1 steering is perfect for the road course, i see no requirement for fasting ratios etc as that will not make the car faster in the turns so the lap times get better. Bling.
Don't forget the brakes.
Regardless of size you need proper tire selection to get the car to rotate in a turn - like it's on string. W or Z rated selection so you can switch to track tires if you really want fly. I ran both types of tires. The close to stock look of 255-50-16 inch tires on a retro look 16 inch wheel tires is a nice and proper look. You don't want car people to know the car is really a wicked wanda. An old muscle car with five spoke mag wheels. Btw a sidewall is required for ride comfort. Go look on the tire rack for a w rated street tire and track tire and there are no 17 inch selections.
Well that is polite and reasoned reply with many valid agreeable points.
However my viewpoint is different.
I agree as one "over tires" ANY vehicle, other mods need to be taken to utilize the larger(?) tires full traction circle.
That DOS NOT mean there is no benefit from over tiring a vehicle without mods.
I have not I believe, anywhere suggested there is no downside in over tiring a car, in the realm of additional rotational mass, higher aero drag, aqua planing, cost, unbalancing due to poor size selection per axle, etc.
However one can on their own decide if the benefits in "overtiring" is worth the cost, in areas of higher driving performance, decreased braking distance ,etc.
My life experience in over 4 decades of "over tiring", and thru nearly all the sharing of others in that time, other then this thread, I have yet to review a solid case of how over tiring is a"mistake" and needs to be avoided, to the point, in the past, overtiring is but just a myth. That does not mean someday we might reach that point, like when an axles tires start to touch in the middle.
