In a conversation with 2 of my brothers it was pointed out to me that my tire/wheel combo was wrong. My wheels are both one inch narrower than the tire tread mounted on them. I have 8" front and 10" rear tires.

Both of my brothers say that the tire tread width should be the same as the wheel width for the best "performance" handling. Both of these guys have done extensive autocrossing and the older brother has been on several of the big tracks, at speed, such as Buttonwillow and Willow Springs.

So whats the answer? Are they right or should I stick with what I have?

They also say that having wider tires on the rear than on the front will definitely cause the car to over steer during hard cornering. I will admit that my larger rear tires were chosen more for drag racing than cornering but they maintain that nearly all sedan racing is done with all four tires of equal size. Thoughts anyone?

What is your specific wheel dimension/tire dimension combo?

I believe any difference from rear to front section width greater than 30mm will cause oversteer. (3mm additional width to the rear, that is)
But also remember, with our high torque cars, oversteer is almost always controlled by the throttle first!
Additionally, the extra sidewall (bulging of wider tires on narrow wheels), relative to aspect ratio, causes the tire to flex more, regardless of sidewall stiffness. Good for dragracing, not the best for slalom or cornering. When looking for tires, the width is a good judge for what proper wheel you need but you have to remember, an 8" wide wheel actually measures 9" from lip to lip. Some extra sidewall bulge is good for saving the wheels incase a nasty curb tries to bite at your hoops. :yes:

Some guys prefer to fit a 13" section width tire on a 10" wide wheel. Yeah, it will work, but probably not as intended by the manufacturer.

I don't profess to be a genius of wheel and tire performance, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. :hurray: