I now have snow tires on my 16" factory alloys...and intend to upgrade to a nicer aftermarket wheel with a better quality summer tire.

What would you recommend in the way of wheel size?? Stick with 16", go to 17" or 18"???? I dont know a heck of a lot in this department. What will going up an inch do for the car? Is it mostly appearance? performance??? If performance, how so? would I be giving up anything by increasing wheel size? Driving style is mostly 80 mph straight highway, some hard cornering at slower speeds. I've noticed that there seems to be a greater selection of wheels once you go to 17" for a lot of manufacturers. I dont mind the extra cost of buying up..but what am I getting for it????? help??? and thanks!!

 

17's will look alot better on your car, because, well they're bigger, and also the tires will be lower profile, and much better looking in my opinion. 17's will slighty slow ur car if u do 1/4 miles, but u will not feel any difference in regular driving. Go for the 17's, secially if u already have 16' for the winter.

 

Most 17's will slow the car because the rims and tires aer heavier. If you look around and spend the $ you can find some that are lighter than your rims now. The lower profile tire will give you a little less flex when you are cornering. I dont know how much you will actually notice the difference though. They will definately look better when you step up to a taller rim and lower profile tire.

 

Larger-diameter wheels usually come with larger widths also. So by moving up to a 17 (or 18), you can fit a wider tire, which will increase the grip a lot for better handling.

 

increasing DIAMETER is for appearance ONLY.
increasing WIDTH can help handling performance.
unless you get expensive, forged rims...increasing diameter will also increase WEIGHT which will negatively affect ACCELERATION.

 

Increasing diameter is not for appearance only. Ever noticed that high-tech race cars have big wheels with low-profile tires? It's because shortening the sidewall decreases flex, which improves turn-in and helps handling overall.

 

don't HAVE to get a very low profile tire to accomplish that.

 

17" Is a nice compromise of weight, price, ride, and looks. I put 18's on my lowered 99 and the ride suffered compared to the stock 16's, but most of my driving is hiway too, so it didn't really matter. I was primarily out for looks. If you're into drag racing, get some 15's, they're cheap and light, but the car will look like *** anywhere off the track.

Or spend $500 per wheel for forged and get the best of all worlds.

 

Hey, Cycle. Dont feel bad bout the 18's. I put 17's on, and the ride suffers also...

 

Buy 18 inch. I thought over 18 vs. 17 for months. I went with the look of 18's. I think 17s look dumb on a big car like ours. Even now I feel that 18s are a little too small for my car. Since I do not race my car on the track, I value looks more than performance. I didn't notice any change with speed by getting the 18s. I think I would only see a change if I went to the track and had my times recorded. The decrease in acceleration is so minimal you won't feel it from the driver's seat. Since my ride is rougher from lower profile tires and springs, my car feels faster to me.
If you buy a Maxima, you are different from the rest (hondas). Be different once more. Buy 18s instead of 17s. If you need the track stuff, buy spare 15s