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18's or 19's?

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Old Jun 21, 2008 | 11:14 PM
  #2  
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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.....
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Old Jun 21, 2008 | 11:39 PM
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19's for the looks, 18's for the performance.
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 12:03 AM
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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.
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 12:18 AM
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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.

Last edited by romycha1; Jun 22, 2008 at 03:48 AM.
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 09:30 AM
  #8  
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The size of the wheel should not make a difference if you get the right offset and tire size.
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 10:54 AM
  #9  
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The rotational weight plus the invrease in weight will put undue wear on the bearings and alignment.

You will get worse MPG
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 11:11 AM
  #10  
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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...
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 11:14 AM
  #11  
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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.
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 12:50 PM
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Originally Posted by 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.
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?
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 01:03 PM
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Originally Posted by 2tone
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?
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.
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 01:05 PM
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Originally Posted by 2tone
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?
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.
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 01:57 PM
  #15  
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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.
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Old Jun 22, 2008 | 10:47 PM
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Originally Posted by 12oclock
LOL, I just ordered Tanabe's so I think I 'll def stay away from 19's now. You have the the GF's? How's the drop? Lookng forward to dropping mine.
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.
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Old Jun 23, 2008 | 12:36 AM
  #18  
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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.
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Old Jun 25, 2008 | 03:01 PM
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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.
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Old Jun 26, 2008 | 11:55 AM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by 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.
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.

Originally Posted by 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.
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
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