After reading through for a while, I notice most people have chosen to go with a 17" wheel. I'm curious about this. Is it just for looks or does it have some benefit? As I understand it, you'd have to be more careful of potholes and bumps in the roads and it may slow down acceleration times, etc? I'm just curious what the benefit is of the larger diameter wheels as opposed to the 15"ers or if they are just for looks. I looked through the sticky, but the only mention of performance was a link that did not work.
Forgot to mention, I understand for things like autocross the less sidewall you have the better you'll take the sharp turns. But I mean for daily driving where you're not going nuts on those turns.
rims are basically for looks and a lot of people go with 17s or 18s so they wont have to sacrifice much ride quality. a lot of aftermarket rims are lighter weight as well, but a lot aren't.
my rims were for looks.
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19"s, since I think 20" or above belong on trucks not cars.
Julius Skeezer wrote:After reading through for a while, I notice most people have chosen to go with a 17" wheel. I'm curious about this. Is it just for looks or does it have some benefit? As I understand it, you'd have to be more careful of potholes and bumps in the roads and it may slow down acceleration times, etc? I'm just curious what the benefit is of the larger diameter wheels as opposed to the 15"ers or if they are just for looks. I looked through the sticky, but the only mention of performance was a link that did not work.
17-18 is the perfect size for our cars. I personally picked 17 over 18, because A) cost (rims AND tires) B) less weight (increased acceleration) C) better ride D) less chance youre gonna bend a rim with the bigger tire size
I've had my 17's on for a month, and although I dodge potholes, I pretty much run over everything else, they're not gonna break
I've noticed a slight decrease in acceleration and braking distance, but its nothing to fret over unless you race your car often (ie. not really noticeable daily driving)
Handling has improved SOOO much over my stock 15's which is a bonus.
So overall, the reason I went with 17" is for looks, but overall they're a good size for our cars and there arent many disadvantages to them.
22s cause I like truck rims on my car
My car came with 16s and then I bought 17s for it. At the time, I was worried about ride quality so that's why I went with 17s. After about a year, I bought some 18s, mostly because I liked them to be honest! I think my 18s ride better than the 17s? Tire choice does play a HUGE role in that though. I changed from Kumhos to Falkens and like the Falkens much better (changed when I bought the new rims).
Plus the 18s look like they fill the wheel well a bit more too. Car handles better now too with 18s.
So I guess to answer you question...looks.
Eh...old man with a Corvette now...it was bound to happen sooner rather than later right?
first i put a set of 18's on my car, they looked great but were way to heavy and with turboing my car i realy didn't care as much about looks anymore so i sold them and bought some nice light 17's, it accels faster, stops faster and corners much better with my 17's and i actualy like how they look on the car alot better.
i say 18's if you just wana look good, but if you want any kind of performance out of your car i would go with 17's
Quote:
22s cause I like truck rims on my car
Youre the only exception Ive seen so far
i think 18s look perfect. i had 17s and i just go tired of them and they looked too small.
[quote=ßãggéÐÇåv98 (Ûñqùðtäߣè Øñé)]i think 18s look perfect. i had 17s and i just go tired of them and they looked too small.
i have 17's and they are lookiing small too i want 18's but dont have the funds
good stuff. I may go with 17's then for my next buy instead of just replacing the rubber on my 15's. How much of a change in driving paterns would someone have to make with 17's? Would I be able to drive as usual or have to be more weary of @!#$ on the road like minor pot holes and crap. I think with the 17's I'm looking at, things like the rotors/calipers/etc would be exposed a lot more. Would I have to worry about @!#$ like snow (it's getting about that time) and dirt getting in there?
19's because "Was a Cav" has them
Julius Skeezer wrote:good stuff. I may go with 17's then for my next buy instead of just replacing the rubber on my 15's. How much of a change in driving paterns would someone have to make with 17's? Would I be able to drive as usual or have to be more weary of @!#$ on the road like minor pot holes and crap. I think with the 17's I'm looking at, things like the rotors/calipers/etc would be exposed a lot more. Would I have to worry about @!#$ like snow (it's getting about that time) and dirt getting in there?
Typically you dont run aftermarket wheels in the winter, they tend to chip away due to salt and what not. If you can, pick up some snow tires for your 15's and run them in the winter.
But driving is same. Obviously if you can avoid @!#$ like pot holes that would be a good idea, but they're forgiving if you do. Manholes, speed bumps, etc etc are all not even a concern, just worry about those potholes. Your brakes will be fine.
i got my 18s cheap and they helped with the handling bigtime.....so did the rest of my suspension though. In the winter i rock my 14's though.
I went with 18's to help fill the wheel wells better with the Drift Kit.
15's, 16's & even certain 17's look small when combined with the Drift Kit.
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I'm getting 17's because I need bigger than 16" to put on a Baer big brake kit. Also 17" because of tire pricing. The same tires I wanted for 17's went up by about $50 or more for 18's
