Why are 18"s better than 20"s? Pics included
 

i took a nice trip to a place called driver's edge or something like that about 20 minutes away. they got pretty much every rim from 17s to 30s. i spoke to some guy who drives a little racing civic with what looked like 18inch enkeis. anyways, he really seemed convinced to sell me 20s.... heres what im getting:

http://www.mhtwheels.com/wheel.cfm?brand=3&cat=135
http://www.mhtwheels.com/images/cate.../dirtydog5.jpg

for those of you too lazy to look at the website, the rims come in 18, 19, 20, etc..., by 8.5, so either way im gettin fatter tires, better for performance though right?

originally, i really wanted to get the 19x8.5s b ecause they come in a nice 5x115 bolt pattern, how convenient eh? anyways... i figured this because u know, in between 18 and 20, so a little performance and a little luxury. relaly cool until he told me 19s were more expensive than 20s. so now im thinking.

he told me the only reason that 20s would be worse for performance is because of the gear ratio or something like that, i didnt really understand him because he was talking car. smart guy, really nice, but i didnt understand. the 20s also look relaly nice in that specific rim because of the longer spokes. but i remembered back to how everyone here says that 20s suck for performance and the ride is terrible, etc.... and i also dont want my car to say 60mph and it actually is going 64mph. i want to keep it as close as possible to normal. so what should i do? should i get them in 18s, 19s, or 20s.

also: the 18s come in 5x114.3 but thats not really an issue because they know how to do it properly.

oh and another also: he recommended some type of Falken F brand tire because of its great performance, but i dont know what dimensions to get it in? 235/55 is current but the guy kept talkin about 245/50 or something and how it would work much better? ugh this is so complicated. id appreciate it if anyone could leave any of their 2 cents or IM me on ferullo0 thanks

mainly: which is better for performance, and why.




COMPARISON:

it doesnt say, but these look like 20" on mercedes
http://www.mhtwheels.com/images/gall...E-DIRTYDOG.jpg

i know im awful at photoshop, but what size do these rims look like? ill make a poll for it. FYI u gotta kinda ignore the tire size because i just photoshopped it terribly. just look at the rims
https://img87.imageshack.us/img87/1650/sexseiccow5.jpg

Re: Why are 18"s better than 20"s? Pics included
 

What do they know how to "do"? Generally it's pretty controversial here about running anything besides the 5x115, although some people have that spacing.

he mentioned something about how its barely under a millimeter and it DOES make a difference if people dont know hwo to do it right so we will put it in a star pattern properly so theres no torque issues etc..

honestly i have no idea man thats why im lookin for help with all you, i dont wanan screw up, i want my spedometer to read the same mph, i want good performance and a nice ride, and i want a really nice look too. thats what i thought the 19s would provide but i really gotta pick bertween 18 or 20

My first question would be:

Why would you want to do something to hurt accelleration, handling, ride quality, and braking on a car you intend to modify for Performance? (based on your signature)

My second question would be:

Why is this in Performance and Brainstorming?

(moving to Detailing and Appearance)

ty will, i did not know it did that much, that is why. i will be going with the 18s. thanks for your help and u may lock this.

No reason to lock it, and if you do a search for the term "114.3" you'll find a few arguments about the wrong lug spacing.

Larger diameter equals more mass. More mass equals resistance to acceleration and braking. Also less sidewall.

Negatives all the way around, except possibly to your taste in 'looks'. 18's are worse than 17's in nearly all these aspects.

Not a bad choice. One thing folks who go with the big hoop/thin tires look is the dynamics of the tires on the rest of the car. Your tire's sidewall is a part of the car's suspension (it flexes!!!) So if you go with big rims and thin tires, the sidewalls have to be stiffer to support the vehicle weight. End result is a harsher ride quality...since you just lost the give of the tires the car was designed around. You can also induce some nasty handling issues since the tire doesn't behave quite the same when it is turned on the ball joints.

if you side by side 18's with low profile compared to the o.d of your factory rims and tires there almost the same i know my good ol factory tires wheels were a hair shorter than my 18's and weight.......please my chrome weighs 3lbs less than the factory P.O.S steel wheels so as far as hurting performance.......nah i dont see it not when youre talking the same o.d

91PA, your post is hard to read. Not sure what you're trying to say.

In GENERAL, 18" rims are heavier than 17" rims. We're not talking rolling diameter or tire size here, the rim itself will have more material in it. The bigger you go, the heavier they are.

So when comparing a 17 and 18 from the same design and manufacturer, the 18 is always heavier.

And as stated above, that's only PART of the problem with increasing wheel diameter.

from what I have read and trust me I have read. There is little to no difference between 5x114.3 and 5x115 the difference is about the thickness of a credit card. The 5x114.3 bolt pattern will mount up to a 5x115 car it has been done with success on other forums. One main reason I looked into this was a $5000.00 savings on a set of Lexani's woodgrain wheels I didnt buy them tho cause of the weight issue.