OK back from Church & no flames so a bit more.

Figure that Corvette Front tire in '73 would be a 265x40x15 in todays vernacular so is really nothing new (and used to call them "erasers" cause the sidewall was so short).

Comment was made that only a few fuddies have original size tires. For serious driving more would be a good idea. Tirerack is a great resounce but don't forget they have lawyers telling them what to say so sometimes you need to read between the lines.

I used to run in SCCA stock class Solo II which means DOT tires with a wear of at least 200 so 1 gee cornering was enough, didn't need to build for 1.25 gees (forget high school physics, for a good tire/surface the "tractive effort" relates to fractals and not coefficients of friction).

Using the formula for the front stock crossfire tires on my coupe gives (51x1653/1389) 61 psi. Aside from needing high pressure valve stems, it is still not a good idea so need a tire that can handle a max load of 1650lbs or thereabouts. TR says a 235x45x18 is a good choice but is an inch larger diameter - will that fit ?

BTW fanatics might find this interesting.

BTW a similar exercise will work for the rear. Too much tire does not work either. Someday we can talk about "unladen understeer".