jmac wrote:

On wet surfaces - I'll have to beg to differ. wider is _not_ always better. The problem is that the wider the tyre, the greater the volume of water it has to shift out of the way, and the further it has to shift it, so the tyre can grip. So once you go beyond a certain width (and it's a lot narrower than what would be 'useful' on a dry tyre overall) the tyre will actually be MORE likely to aquaplane.

You also have to look at the unsprung weight. That can (admittedly) be an advantage in some places, not always, but it's possible. It also depends on how much of an excess of power there is. I remember a website did a very tongue in cheek 'before and after' writeup where they kept modifying things on a car, a stock low-performance import of some description, and ran it down the 1/4mile. One of the first things they did was to remove the big diameter bling wheels and tyres and re-fit the stockers, and despite the stockers being less grippy, the motor just wasn't that powerful (it was running 18 seconds or so iirc) and they improved the time by a few tenths just with the stock wheels/tyres.

Back on the original topic though - when I mentioned suspension setup being vital, it is possible to get a good combination that is reasonable off the line and also through corners. And it _is_ possible (if the suspension geometry/particulars happen to cross over a certain point) to actually be too low for cornering to be optimal.

Last but not least - you could also look at (relatively simple) stuff like having different boost/timing curves that are switchable based on what gear you are in. In some drag racing, they have different timing curves for each gear, not so much as traction control (which is the way I'm suggesting it for helping traction) but rather the fact that the engine is cooler off the line, so more timing is safe/desirable, but toward the end of the 1/4mile with heat soak, chamber and piston surface temps are higher and less timing is both more optimal for power, but also necessary to avoid engine damage.