Ah-Ha! - you missed the point where I said theoretical...this means it bears no resemblence to the real world. :D

You have percieved a clear flaw in my initial theoretical model. The load the tire carries and the pressure the tire is inflated to will always lead to the exact same contact patch size as long as the casing and sidewall are free to deform and the pressure is low enough (any practical pressure) to allows for deformation (READ:"Under Real World Conditions").

I had a feeling I was missing something simple, but not this simple. My embarassment is compounded by the fact that I work in the Hydraulics field where this basic idea is the principle that my entire product offering works off of.

I was so wrong I could work for the government.:D

EDIT: This should also bring a close to this debate because using this basic reasoning there is no difference in contact patch between a squared or rounded tire. Handling changes is something I know little about though, but I assume that there is little ot no difference in that area either.

Can you then say that as a tire wears, it rides like a wider version of the tire? It might even improve handling?

Well...I guess you could say that as the tire wears the contact patch remains exactly the same (straight line - again I don't want to guess about the deformation changes seen in cornering). In essence then you could say that it doesn't ride like a wider version of the tire, but rather it rides just like it always did.

As for improving handling I would expect no handling change (riding straight) - again I can not speak for cornering.