Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Wheels & Tires performance diff from 17's to 18's or 19's

I'm trying to decide what size rims to get without robbing to much performance. I know going from stock rims to 17's 18's or 19's there is going to be a diff. but how much? and weight is come into play also. I've searched a little and couldnt find anything. Some help would be great thanks

No offense to those people who still consider the CSVT to be a powerhouse but, honestly, put on what wheel you like regardless of weight, size or finish. Buicks & Avalons can smoke us

It's not like your car is seeing 1/4mile tracks daily or racing at road Atlanta on the weekends.

Braking will suffer with larger wheels as well. From the 16" to a 19", I would supect you would lose about .6 - .8 of a second in the 1/4mile.

There is a noticable difference going from my stock rims (21lbs) to my summer wheels (17lbs). Weight is what makes the difference in performance. The less weight the better. And remember, a 21lb 17" wheel will not perform as weel as a 21lb 15" wheel because the weight is further from the center of the wheel.

Bottom line, get the lightest wheel you can if you're at all interested in performance.

but not too light...
there's a point where sacrificing too much weight in Michigan is a big mistake, because at that point, structural rigidity goes out the window. as an example, i wouldn't go under like 15-16 lbs for an 18" wheel, because anything lighter will very quickly be turned to crap on our roads.
do some research on 1-piece wheels vs. 2-piece and then forging methods, and add that to your shopping. you won't regret it.

Yeah cause all roads suck in MI, Big A$$ potholes everywhere I thought I saw light in one or two of them LOL
I was leaning twords 18's but then I though about all that other stuff and was thinking of going to 17's now to save some of the perf. But 18's look better I guess I'm going to sacrifice a little something either way. With out spending tons of money. I'll have to do some reserch this weekend. I looked in the lightweight rims thread and its all 17's so that helped a little but there was nothing to compare them to, like 18's or 19's
thanks fellas any more info would be great

I recently went from 17" FSVT wheels (~22 lb's) with 215/45-17's to 18" OZ Racing Superleggra's (~16 lb's) and 225/40-18's and can say that there is a noticeable increase in acceleration with the new 18" OZ's even with the bigger tires. Handling feels great as well. As far as braking I'm running 13" Baer fronts so that's not really a problem.

Does anybody know how much the stock e1 rims weigh?

I keep hitting crap here pretty hard... the ATS rims are holding up suprisingly well.

The German guy that inspected my car the other day said "We pay a lot of taxes here, but they do not fix the roads. Instead they line the politician's pockets."