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Wheels - 17in vs 18in

PigB8

By PigB8,
in General Automotive Discussion

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lwells Grand Master

lwells

Posted
Posted

Well, besides looks, not a whole heap. Its all about the size of the contact patch at the end of the day (in performance terms) and if you have the same width wheels in 17" and 18", there is not going to be any noticeable difference.

One thing to keep in mind though is that wider tires are generally easier to get for larger sized wheels, although tires for said wheels are usually much more expensive (for the decent stuff anyway).

LW.

sewid Grand Master

sewid

Posted
Posted

I have 18"s now but would love to go back to 17"s. The ride is noticibly different and you can feel that extra inch of sidewall that goes missing.

Tires also are harder to find and a lot more expensive in 18"s. 17"s are also cheaper initially to buy.

RedS14T Enthusiast

RedS14T

Posted
Posted

I'm running 17x8's on my 200sx atm, last week i temporily put 18x7.5 on to see the difference. I honestly couldn't believe how bumpy it was with the 18's (i've got koni adjustables set on full firm) Car felt like it was skipping over every minor imperfection in the road.

I guess 18's would look more flashy, but when i see a import with expensive 17's i usually get the hint that it means business!

Terminal Grand Master

Terminal

Posted
Posted

If you want quicker launches, and better fuel efficiency, go the 17"s, as the 18's will have a higher moment of inertia and take more power to get up to the same speed. this also works with 16"s vs 17"s and so on. it all depends on what you want to do, go fast or look good.

xRHETTx Mentor

xRHETTx

Posted
Posted

18x7.5 seem pretty skinny, i would think if you were after wheels that performed well as well as looked good, you would probably go for 8 or 9 inch wide wheels, especially for the rear.

I think a car with fat 17x9s looks a lot tougher than a car with 18x7.5. Plus tyres are heaps cheaper.

FATGTS-R Experienced

FATGTS-R

Posted
Posted

The only car I had that I ever changed rim diameter was my Aus spec R31. Went from 14 to 15 inch.

I didnt think it would make that much difference but hell was I wrong. The ride is a lot more harsh and would assume your suspension cops more of a beating as there is less tyre profile to absorb some of the shock.

ASYLUM Community Regular

ASYLUM

Posted
Posted

i own an R33 GTS, i was going to swap the axles over to 5 stud to get some good racing 18s (the wheels i am after are only available as 18s in 5 stud). i have been toying with the idea of keeping the 4 stud and getting the 17x8 versions instead. after reading this i think the 17s sound a lot better but i will be doing a turbo upgrade/swap later on - will i need to move to 5 stud and GTSt LSD anyway? in which case i'll just get the 5 stud 17s :rofl:

Yotis Experienced

Yotis

Posted
Posted
For a 33, there's not much need to go bigger than 17 x 8 simply because they have a good contact patch, is relatively cheap and they fill out the wheel wells fine.

Same for the 32.

The 34 does seem to look better with 18" rims.

T.

Hell yer .:rofl:

Also at the same time.. I thought by having slightly wider rear wheel will give slightly better tracktion? Since the gtst/gts25t/gtt are all rear wheel drive and all. :D Correct me if I'm wrong of course. :)

PigB8 Apprentice

PigB8

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Well over the last week I have asked people left, right and centre (owners/tyre salesman/this forum/suspensionexperts) which way to go....

The core of it is... if you got the cash go the 18x8 and 18x9.

I drove both 17's and 18's this week on the same suspension set up (standard) and the ride is hardly different... after all it's just 5mm of side wall difference. I guess the real difference would be around tuning the suspension to suit the wheel size. Sports cars are full of comromise, this is just another one.

lwells 's post was on the mark... it's all about the contact patch.

Cheers

PB8

gslrallysport Experienced

gslrallysport

Posted
Posted

Rim size and how it performs really depends on the application and how they're set up, Formula 1 cars run 13's yet seem to go ok... don't ya think... They basically use the sidewall as suspension and run VERY hard suspension components to compensate... its down to personal taste and what it is your after, looks or performance and how you tune your suspension to match

dAVE Grand Master

dAVE

Posted
Posted

18;s dont cost too much more than 17's... but you will take it in the arse with tire prices..... I dont know what 17" rubber goes for these days, but a few weeks ago got a nail through the sidewall on the 350z.. 1x18" tire cost $500 :(

If it was $350 bucks the difference for a new set of 18's (with tyres), which way would you go? I can't see the ride being that much worse as it's only going from a 245 to a 240 anyway.

Cheers

PB8

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