Heavy tires - does the powertrain adapt?

[tacorancher]

Theoretical question. I have a hybrid. When I floor it all the way, while the power is excellent, I can tell the ECU is “cutting power” and I don’t really feel the full 465lb feet of torque. I think this is largely traction control—as it feels the tires slip, it limits output. So, my theory is that if I run bigger tires, it will cut power less and I may not feel the larger tires as much as I would think (in other words it would let more torque through because the tires would be harder to spin, and it may feel similar to the lighter tires in terms of net power output). Many folks report they barely feel a difference with larger tires. Is my logic totally wrong? It could be. Just putting it out there for discussion.

Counterpoint - when I turn off traction control I can’t tell much difference. So there may be more going on in terms of power output management at the ECU level.

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