surely wider wheels means more grip?
No,
For the sake of simplicity the friction between a vehicle's tyres and the road
surface is most easily expressed as:
P x A x µ
Where:
P = Presure
A = Area
µ = Coefficient of friction
So wider tyres give more grip? No! Because Pressure is:
F/A
F being force (in this case the force is that of the vehicle pushing down on the
road due to gravity (keeping it simple here so avoiding weight transfer etc) )
So let's take 2 theoretical cars that are identical [1] with a mass of 1000kg
with a perfect front to rear and left to right balance.
F will be equal to mass * acceleration. Acceleration due to gravity is 9.8m/s/s
So the force acting across the 4 tyres is 9800N. or 2450N per tyre.
[1] The 2 cars are only separated by the tyres one has 135 section width the
other 270 and we will assume double the contact patch. Both sets of tyres are of
the same compound and have a µ of 0.4
Let's assume the contact patch for the 135 tyre is 6750 square mm 67.5 square cm
and the 270 13500 square mm.
So for single tyres:
Car 1 with the 135 section tyres:
P= 2450N/67.5cm^2 = 36.3N/cm^2
Friction = 36.3N/cm^2*67.5cm^2*0.4 = 980
Car 2 with 270 section width tyres@
P= 2450N/135cm^2 = 18.15N/cm^2
Friction = 18.15N/cm^2*135*0.4 = 980