I'm thinking of getting some new wheels and would like to hear your input regarding the differences in ride quality between having 17" vs 18" wheels; does the lower profile tire on the 18's make the ride/feel very bumpy or notably different than 17's?

 

I agree with Doug. I went from my 16" SE wheels to my 18" Enkeis, and I didn't notice very much ride degradation. In fact, if anything I like it better because I can feel the road more.
Hope that helps.
-hype

 

what about turning radius? is your car have hard to park now? like 40+ feet with 18"?

 

I got stock 15 inch rims now if I up to 17 will it be a lot harder to park??

 

18" looks perfect on the Max. 17" looks small. Even the 2K+ maxima comes with 17" stock. The only draw back I can see are... 1. There are more choices when it comes to tires with 17". 2. Cheaper tires.

I have been through 2 sets of 18", I can't ever see myself riding with anything less than 18".

 

As I look into this now I see that both the 17 and 18 can be used with either 40 or 45 series tires so sidewall height is no different.

Hey costco what's up are you working at costco or something? Costco does all my tire installs, balancing and rotating etc., it's a great store!

 

Why go 18" why not 20's????. I want to do 19's, but there isn't a big selection of wheels. Ironicly thou, 19" tires are less expensive than 18" tires from what I've seen. But again less selection.

 

na my dad runs a store and I go to costco 2 times a week so I got that name.Anyway I've never been into the costco tire section thing are they cheap overthere compare to other stores?

 

The difference in the turning radius, between cars shippped from the factory, with 16" or 17" wheels is the steering stops. This keeps the wheels from turning as far, with the 17" wheels, so it has a larger turning radius. The same thing is true for the i30 and i30t. You can tell it's the stops because the nuber of turns of the steering wheel, from lock-to-lock is different.
In regards to Costco: their prices are pretty good, because it includes everything (mounting, balancing, valves, etc.), and they will also fix your flats, baance and rotate the tires for as long as you own them. In the long run, they can work out to be cheaper than mail order.

 

so if I get 18" I have to stop earlier or I will crush the wheels?

 

their prices are pretty good, just they don't carry anything in stock over 16" for our cars. but i buy tires online and they mount them for me. the price includes lifetime balance & rotation and flat repair which works out pretty good since i go shopping there anyways - you get tire service while you shop. biggest thing to me is that they're honest people though. they now charge 9 bux per tire for this svc; use to be 7 until recently.

I'm leaning towards 17's guys, 18's are pricy. Thanks for all the input.

 

i own a car with 17 and have driven one with 18. thers is no noticable difference in ride quality. (imo) in regards to tire selection, 17 has a few more choices.

for the wheel selction 17 generally come in 17x7 or 17x8 witch is a pain because i wanted some 17x7.5: this size was either very expensive or the rim itself was ugly.

if you get a set of 17 with any sort of "lip" (konig monsoon) it will look small.
18's on the other hand have a lot of choices in 18x7.5

 

Where did you get rims from? That's a good price
Thanks
1995 GXE 1st Place NOPI Nationals 2000

 

i got my 17inch GT-8s for $1300 including the rims, Toyo Tires, wheel locks and uh...life time rotation and balancing!!!

thought about going 18s...but the tires cost too much as i drive my car everyday...

<IMG SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1377685&a=10279967&p=38775980">

 

okay.. just noticing.. car looks nice.. but for 200$ more u coulda had exact setup u have now but 18s.. doug said he paid 1500 for ur same setup but in 18s.. my advice.. is go big.. 18s or more.. those who say 18s aren't as good.. just don't know or don't see spending $ worth while.. when u look at it.. u can get 18s for alot less than some 17s.. which is scary thought

 

one thing about the good priced 18" rims, is that you might not easily find 8"+ in width.
one of the most common setup is 17x8 here, but when you go 1" bigger, 18x8 might not be available, not the ones that goes for $300 per pcs.

 

money is the root of all evil chris just my opinoon but pay more now than selling ur small ones and paying more for 18s

 

i agree. two weeks after i put on 18" on my gs400, i feel they are quite tiny, 19" will be perfect. but look at it again, for the blitz technospeed or volkracing av3 likes, even my friend can sell me at his cost, it's still very expensive, and the $300 per tire don't help either. for a poor guy like me, you know, charging stuff on credit card and leasing cars, i can only afford to drool over those

 

so are 7" wide rims not preferred for some reason; 18 x 7 is no good?

 

can't say they are no good. i mean the stock 15" on my '98 gle before has a width of 6.5 i believe? it was still ok, but 17x8 sure handled way better. so i personal prefer at least 8" in width for 17"+ wheels.

 

do they handle better on the 300 or the 400? kay off to bed i go.. class in morning

 

There's a GS400 here where I love that has 19" Volk racing AV3's. It looks pretty nice. There's like 3 more GS' with 20's too down here. If I can find the pic of the GS400 with the AV3's then I'll post it here for ya

 

thx, actually i have seen plenty of pics of gs with 19" av3, that's why i like it, but my wallet doesn't like the price, so
btw, on NY roads and 19" with lip just don't go together. friend had RacingHart C5 19", bent 3 outta 4 with in 1 month, another friend has 20", everytime he went over a pot hole the fender got dent(he has to push it back everytime he parks, pathetic).
so i figure i just get some 18" BBS for now, save the 20"+ when i get my CLK55 in the future.

 

18x7.5 .. feels fine, i like it more than 16's that were stock.. car feels more in control.

 

The optimal tire size is 235/40ZR18. It's suppose to be mounted on 8" wide wheel, but you can get away on 7.5" wide. I would not try it on 7" wide wheel. You are going to end up with some funky tires..probably something like 215/45/18. It's going to look funny from the back.

 

Need wheels for my Sebring Conv. so got a set of 17 x 7 Fittipaldi Diablo's (125ea) for it and a set of 18 x 7 Einki RS5's (120ea) for MAX; getting Falkens for the 17's and nothing yet for the 18's

 

since you have a 4th gen you should definatly get a 18's. i think they look better than 17's on the 4th and 5th gens.

did you know that Freddie the owner died of a cain OD.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by doug
[I]Tires Plus Wheels , Hartford CT


[Edited by DAREN on 01-22-2001 at 06:53 PM]

 

I WISH I HAD A 4th GEN!!!!! damm..

I think 4th gens should have had 16s standard on all cars, and 17s on the SE, those stock steel wheels with hub caps look so freakin tiny, i can't believe it.. Anyways, I'd probably go with 18s but is there a big difference in prices of the tires? also, is it easier to bend 18s then 17s? I live in NYC pot holes are everywhere.

*goes back to dreaming of owning a 4th gen*

 

i live in hartford and i drive a black 3rd gen with florida plates.
here's a pic
http://www.geocities.com/polo_778/Ot...cs/Dan93SE.jpg

[QUOTE]Originally posted by doug
[I]nah.. i didn't.. but he always seemed a bit wired to me.. you live in Hartford.. you don't drive a black 4th gen perhaps?[QUOTE]Originally posted by DAREN
[I]since you have a 4th gen you should definatly get a 18's. i think they look better than 17's on the 4th and 5th gens.

did you know that Freddie the owner died of a cain OD.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by doug
[I]Tires Plus Wheels , Hartford CT

[Edited by DAREN on 01-22-2001 at 11:47 PM]

 

If anyone cares,

I have the 15" GXE steel wheels and 18x7.5 rims. I noticed a huge difference in ride quality. The car handle slightly better around corners with the wider tire, but I also have better tires on the rims than the steel wheels. When my suspension goes in next month or March, I anticipate the ride being even worse. You feel every imperfection in the road. It doesn't bother me that much anymore, but nonetheless, you feel it.

 

I'm also in this tough choice between the 17" and 18" I'm thinking of getting either Borbet type TD (18") or type T (17").. the rim cost is nothing great, but the tires are much more expensive... does anybody have either of these setups, got any pics?

 

Don't let the price of tires deter you from buying 18". If you only plan on having the rims on for half of the yr, then you won't wear out the tires as fast.

 

Very True... I also just noticed that I could get those Kumho ECSTA Supra 712 to go on the 18" for 140ish.. that would make it a good deal... are those tires any good for summer tires?

 

So an 18 x 7.5 will work ok on the MAX. Regarding the Kuhmo's (something like that)per John at Tirenet it's not worth the money - it's a very quick wearing tire. They're at http://www.tirenet.com/automobile.html and are very helpful and knowledgeable.

 

Compare tread wear vs. $$$$$ spent and figure out what is a good deal or not. The Kuhmo's aren't that bad. And I only use them during the summer. They're fine for me.

 

his points is that for 25 bux more (165ish) u can get a Toyo Proxes with much better wear characteristics. how many miles do u drive during the summer - i would use them yr round