I can't figure it out. I was thinking about it on the head earlier. Say you have the same car with 14" aluminum wheels and 17" aluminum wheels, same company model etc etc. The 17" wheels weigh more and thus would make the ride worse. They also would have more rotational intertia making the car slower to accelerate and brake. Presuming they were fitted with the same size tires (say 215/50) those should hold as well right? The only disadvantage I can see of having the smaller wheels is looks and possible issue with brake size? Am I missing something?
-Pete