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Interesting question. I would say that with todays tire technology, width would be more important. With steel belted radial tires, they can stiffen the side wall enough that it doesn't really become a factor. Take BFG R1 for example, this tire was designed for Showroom stock racing, cars without "ideal" suspension setup. The outer sidewall is extremely stiff while the inner sidewall flexed a bit more to compensate for less than ideal camber settings. If any of you have ever mounted DOT R rated tires they can attest to the stiffness of the sidewall compare to a normal street tire.
The tire width would make a difference in grip. I would rather run a 225 than a 205, as long as the car has enough HP to warrent a larger width tire. On a NA s14, I would not go any bigger than a 225. The car does not have enough power to warrant anything wider. Also, streching a tire onto a larger rim does not really help much since the contact patch will remain the same. If you go too wide, it just creates drag and actually slows the car down. There is such a thing as too much grip.
Now in the rain, you would want to run a narrower tire, less contact patch. This will reduce the chance of hydroplaning and disapate the water more effciently.
Now to the contrary if anyone is running bias ply tire (vintage) side wall flex can be an issure.
The most important factor in grip with tires is the compound the tire is made of. This is the absolute most important factor as to how much grip the tire will have, how long it will have grip, succeptabilty to heat and so on. You can have two identically built tires in the identical size by the same manufactuer but different compounds and have completely different behaivng tires.
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