physics for wider=better?

[Project S13]

From performance perspective only, not looks and such...

I was talking to one of my friends who's been taking some mid range physics classes and he asked me why wider wheels were better for cornering...he said that the width wouldn't add more traction, just that the size and weight distribution of the contact patch would change.

I'm under the impression that wider wheels, hence wider, more square contact patches were better for performance cornering applications like auto-x, but all I can remember is the wider track width...I thought it had something to do with weight transfer under cornering/lateral g's. Is anyone willing to take a moment and refresh my memory of the actual science behind the wider wheels?

[Fenvy]

from a noob and uneducated guess

let's pretend that on a straight line you have 100% contact patch of tire/road but that percertage decrease when you turn the steering wheel. The montetum + decreased contact patch of the tire/road makes the car not want to follow the direction you want it to turn as opposed to a straight line. By increasing the contact patch using wider tires, the "real" contact patch also increase which contributes to better handling.

[SmithSR]

zerothread?id=107311

^^ Read that whole thread, then there are four other threads on page one alone, everybody tossing in their own opinions and/or facts as to what wider actually equals.