chancejat

iTrader: (2)

19s may look better but weigh more and if you dont get proper size tires youll mess your gearing up and make the car slower.....18s will be lighter and cheaper.....

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

19's for the looks, 18's for the performance.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

as others have said above... depends on if you want looks or performance. Me personally... I'm going with 18's... they'll be lighter than 19's, cheaper etc. That and they still look nice in my opinion. Also need to decide what width you want. I'm bumping mine to 18x8.5 front and 18x9.5 rear but I also have nitrous so a bit more grip might come in handy.

romycha1

I have a set of 19x9.5's on all four corners... well... I have them, but they are not on. When they were on, they drove great, and looked even better.

The only problem I ran into, was, since I'm dropped on Tanabe's, they rubbed a little on the fender lip, but that was easy to fix. The other problem, was that, the offset was a little off, so the tires touched my springs when I turned. I figure a little 5mm spacer will fix that. But I'm about a 1000 miles away from my car, so that won't happen for a while.

MazdaJeff

The size of the wheel should not make a difference if you get the right offset and tire size.

Razz1

The rotational weight plus the invrease in weight will put undue wear on the bearings and alignment.

You will get worse MPG

Revvittupp

I say get staggerred 19's... I mean if yoru going for looks, you might as well degrade performance as much as possible...

If you are going for performance, get (lightweight)18x8.5's or 9"s all around...

mysql

I have 26 lbs 19" rims for about 2 years. then I got some ray gram light rims in 18" at 17 lbs each. The OD of the tire itself is the same, but you end up with more sidewall on a 18" rim.

Personally, I'll stick with 18". As has been said already, your tires will cost less to replace and you'll have more options to choose from. 19" does look a bit more bling, but I don't think it is worthwhile due to added weight and cost.

2tone

iTrader: (3)

i know you're turbo'd mysql, but how big of a difference in performance (acc/braking/turning/etc) did you notice when you dropped that much wheel weight?

robrecht

I'm wondering the same thing. Minus 9 lbs per corner--were the new 18" tires heavier or lighter than your 19" tires, mysql? I'm thinking of 18" CE28Ns at 14.6 lbs per corner and light-weight Toyo T1Rs at 23 lbs, all together a drop of 12 lbs per corner from stock. I became very unsprung spoiled with 6.5-lb 14" CE28Ns on my old Miata.

mysql

I didn't notice it too much in acceleration, but there must have been gains. Where I noticed it most is in turning. I can change lanes abruptly and it felt like the car was much lighter. Overall, I don't think going from OEM rims at 23 lbs down to 18 lbs rims will be a huge noticeable gain that you'll be bragging about, but every little bit adds up.

pdxhak

iTrader: (2)

I'm running 19x8.5 with 255/35 all around.

Both my wheels and tires weigh LESS than the OE wheels and RE40s that came with the car.

Just choose wisely and you can run either. Obviously if I were to run my same wheel in 18" then it would weigh even less but that is not the point I'm trying to make here.

romycha1

Yeah, I have the GF's, they're great. It's a pretty aggressive drop compared to some. If you're going for looks, 19's are cool, just make sure you get the right offset. I believe my wheels are +30 or +35... I can't remember, and I'm nowhere close to where I can check what they are.

romycha1

ehh... well, there will wheel space, but very very little wheel space. The slammed look is nice, but when you're tuckin' on an 8... it just doesn't seem right.

416to212

12 , you avatar says you are in CNY... Where is that?

I'm in NY and our roads are pretty ridiculous in the more heavily populated areas and highways: potholes, bridge joints, concrete expansion joints, and manhole covers. I used to drive on 19's in Toronto Canada where the roads are smooth and unrutted but I would not own 19s in New York City. Too much risk of denting a rim, getting a blow out, etc.
18's are safer, economical, and perform better but 19's definitely look better.

halimsteven

i think the weight of the wheels are off. but still i don't know because when i research about the wheels weight for my car, i didn't find the wheels that weight 15lbs, unless it's 17 or 18x7......but still, i am not that sure.
and yeah, i feel the difference i believe. it's little bit better in acceleration.

tell me me about it, i used to have 19 with low profile, and live in NJ. i bent it, i don't know how, but i just did. that's why i stick with 18x8.5 because lighter, and more rubber...hahaha....nad my car is lowered...

steven