The (Nearly) 1.0-g Nissan Leaf: Getting an EV to Grip Like a 911

Nissan's Leaf is first in nobody's mind when it comes to any type of  traditionally defined perform­ance. But the positioning of  its heavy battery pack beneath the floor gives it a low center of gravity, a potential handling advantage. In the interest of science, we set out to measure how much roadholding (skidpad grip) we could extract from the Leaf by changing nothing but tires and wheels. Tires fall into an overwhelming num­ber of performance categories, but with a little help from Tire Rack's online decision guide, we narrowed our replacement-rubber choices to four segments: grand-touring all-season, ultra-high performance, extreme perform­ance, and DOT-legal track and competition. We also opted to concentrate on one brand—Yokohama—because it offers a wide variety of summer and track tires in the Leaf's stock 205/55R-16 size. Finally, to give ourselves the best possible shot at 1.0 g on a 200-foot skidpad, we also tested the grippiest tire that fits the Leaf, the BF­Goodrich g-Force R1. Without altering tire size or straying from recommended inflation pressures, could we transform the Leaf from commuter car to track star? (more…) from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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