What advantages / disadvantages do 18's have over 17's wheels.

Do most people tend to upgrade to 18's?

 

Subscribed as I think this could be an interesting question your asking.

 

People who fit 18s generally go for wider, lower profile tyres. Thus resulting in better feel, grip and handling.

However, bigger heavier wheels, which have their weight further out, are harder to accelerate, so they could (in theory) reduce your rate of acceleration

But most fit them for looks

 

Put it this way, I want to go back to 17s for comfort as daily tyres, the taller sidewall allowing me to ride the pot-holes better but I'm trying to find 8x17s so I can still fill my arches

 

I changed from 17" OZ Superleggera's with Falken ZE912 tyres to 18" PFF7's with Toyos and all I can say is they look great but handled like shizzle. Wether it was because I'd gone from a non-directional tyre to a directional i'm not sure but there was a noticable change in grip, especially in the wet.

I would say its 18's for show, 17's for go!

 

The reason I changed from 17s to 18s is the fact I can get cheap tyres for the 18s as the rally cars down the workshop use them Iand I get the left overs. !

Only reason really

 

17s are better for loads of reasons, if youve already got hard suspension the 18s are too much, make the car skittish and can make your suspension domes??? the bit where your shockers bolt on at the top deform known as mushrooming.

 

Ive ran various different cars with 17s and 18s and will always use 17s from now on.We all know that 18s look a bit better,but on the majority of uk roads its a pain in the ****!I had a civic which i lowered and put bigger wheels on.That is now the wifes car,and every time i drive it i realise how sh!te it rides compared to my scoob.Im 37 now and dont do form over function anymore

 

Smaller the better imo, i wish i could get 15's to fit over brembo's!

 

I went from 17s to 18s with a 35 profile tyre. I love the look of 18s but you do feel everything. Drove over a pot hole the other day and thought id cracked a wheel :s

 

Interesting thread, very helpful - was toying with the idea of 18s as i need more space for a future brembo upgrade, but i reckon I'll stick with 17s after reading this. I went from the standard 16" 5 spokes on my V4 STI to 17" wheels and it didn't feel as good on the road after that. Looked a lot better, especially since the 16" wheels were gold, and the 17" ones were silver and matched the car better, but the feel of the car on the road was compromised imho, so I reckon I'll stick with 17" wheels now

 

I know that feeling, and I'm convinced that some of the issues I'm having at the moment are related to 'shock' damage on my car

 

All the 18" boys will be on here in a min, convincing themselves there cars handle better and so on

 

Nope, I've got 18s and whilst they look good for everyday use I fully expect 17s to be better if fitted with the right tyres

 

I'm running 215/40/18 and there is enough side wall to soak up the bumps. Handling wise; there's not a lot in it really. 17's feel a bit better I guess, maybe also because they're smaller and allow for greater acceleration.

 

There are only 2 reasons to go for larger wheels.

1. Looks
2. Bigger brakes

Larger wheels will results in negative performance.

 

How do smaller wheels allow for greater acceleration? Prodrive recommended 18" wheels with the ppp kit to give the maximum torque available.

Lower profile tyres do tram-line more and can make the car feel skitish. You can't expect to fit 18's to a car that was designed for 16.5 or 17's and expect it to handle better.
One of the best handling impreza's the RB320 came with 18's 235/40 18's but the car was set up for these wheels. Prodrive lowered the front 30mm and the rear 10mm compared to the standard STi in conjunction with their geo settings.
Potholes are a concern though. I hit one the other day and did crack a GT1 wheel.

 

Always enjoyed this video:

 

Your council must spend some money of the roads then - with 235/40's I often feel like I've smashed a wheel and regularly stop to check for damage. I spend a fair bit if time weaving to avoid them so I'm surprised I haven't been stopped on suspicion of drink-driving

 

Nope, i've had 18's twice now and you'd need a VERY good suspension set-up to get them to work as well as 17's. If it wasnt for the looks i'd swap my 18's for 17's but then again, it does make for a more "entertaining" drive

 

I was going to upgrade to 18s but will stick with Sti 17s now.

There are some tidy 17 inch superleggeras on fleabay at the mo.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3007614043...84.m1558.l2649

 

If your putting lots of torque down the car will app 18"

 

I went from 17's to 18's on my hawk. Much preferred the way the car drove and handled on 17's, but the 18's look better. Get the suspension height right on 17s and they do sit nice and low though.

 

Thanks mate found that really helpful & a good watch. Think I will stick to 17's keep the comments coming, still some way to go!

 

I deffo would go 18 again if i got another Scoob. It simply just felt better to me and looked the part

 

Better acceleration - by being smaller (including tyre) so a reduced rolling radius hence lower gearing QED!

Yeah, pot holes are a PITA though, although the sidewall side is the same as most peoples 17's.

 

You must live in West Yorkshire

 

Do they expect people to be drunk around there and that's why I wouldn't have been stopped

And no I don't

 

Maybe i'm thick well no maybe about it but i can't get my head around that.
I can see the smaller wheel having a smaller rolling radius but can't see how that equates to a faster accelerating car. The larger wheel would cover the same distance as the smaller wheel but with a slower rotation plus give more torque?

 

The rotation speed is governed by the gearbox and engine speed so a smaller wheel would end up covering less ground, but quicker, for same number of revolutions. The opposite for oversize wheels that would accelerate slower but have a slightly higher top-end