What's better? wider tyre or wider track?

Was asking myself this question with regard to track days, slalom, etc...
I am tempted to either buy a 1cm wider tyre (ie. 215/40-17) or to keep my 205/40-17 and get some 1 cm spacers..

As the Bravo has much less space available than the coupe, I cannot go for 225s at the front without widening, rear is no problem..

What is your recommendation?

Thanks in advance, Jochen

Wider track will in effect soften the suspension by increasing the leverage on the suspension, this could be also true of wider tires however that depends on wheel offset and suspension pivot points.

Cheers Tim

I dont think that you will notice much difference either way.

moving from a 205/40 tyre to a 215/40 will only give you half as much extra track as fitting a 1cm spacer

My recommendation would be to forget about increasing the track or widening the tyres - you will get more grip from getting the basic setup right - a bit of extra camber and some high-quality tyres will do far more than 1cm of extra width on the track or the tyres

I run 205/40/17 on mine but i plan changing to 225/45/16. I can't see why 225's wont fit. Are you running et30?

changing wheels too? 225 is a standard width on standard wheels so should be ok.

Yes, new 16" wheels. But mine is a Bravo.

Yep, ET 30 (MilleMiglia 7x17)..

The problem is not the width of the 225s but the combination of heigth and width on a 17'' alloy.. this just refers to us 2 Bravo boys (less space than a Coupe)

A 225/40-17 would slightly touch the inner plastic cover when the wheel is fully turned left/right. (Though, I have not yet tried with a 225/35-17 as these are usually not stocked and you hardly find some dealer willing to order just for a trial..)

Greetz, Jochen

I already have a -2,1 degree trackday setting and I was hoping I can fit some quality 225s because I too thought that just 1 cm more will not be worth it.. my current 205s are Proxess T1s so not too bad

I was investigating in semislicks, too, but they are only available in 225/45 so it's even worse as space is concerned...

Greetz, Jochen

I would personally widen track. I went from ET42 to ET30.5 wheels and there was a noticeable improvement. The Alfa GTV uses ET30 on the alloys to achieve a wider track as standard and it is basically the same suspension setup at the front as the coupe and bravo.

If you go for a wider tyre you are basically sacrificing some straight line grip for some lateral grip as the surface area of the contact patch won't change but change shape. I personally would go wide every time as you will have more mechanical grip round bends. That's why I run 245 profile tyres.


Actually a wider track means technically that the centre to centre distance between the wheels is greater, so you could have any size tyre and the same track width.

Yes my mistake you have 17". 225 will not clear the arches even 215 would be tight. That’s the reason why I have gone to 16" so I can run 225's