18'.........slow me down....?what?? Options

[KB-2]

so im going to get 18' rims for my celi, and i told on of my friends...he has a acura integra, and he thinks its godly. anyway he was telling me that 18's are gonna make my car really slow and that i wont get good handling.......somehow i think hes wrong, it might slow me down a tad.....but i dont think that much.....any thoughts??

[ExSane]

I got 18" rims on. When I first had it, my car felt heavier for some reason. Maybe becuz my new wheels weighed more than the stock 14" wheels. BUT then I notice as I raced, my car pulled more as if it had more traction? I don't know but I definately had way better handling and that's on stock suspension.

So yeah, I'm saying your friend is totally wrong.

This post has been edited by ExSane: Sep 8, 2006 - 7:42 AM

[sinner96ST]

I got 18" rims on. When I first had it, my car felt heavier for some reason. Maybe becuz my new wheels weighed more than the stock 14" wheels. BUT then I notice as I raced, my car pulled more as if it had more traction? I don't know but I definately had way better handling and that's on stock suspension.

So yeah, I'm saying your friend is totally wrong.

no, you're just feeling the wider tire on the straights.

in corners, you're just abusing the hell out of your suspension. on bumpy roads, your shocks have more unsprung weight to damper, and general braking / acceleration times are increased. it throws off your speedometer, and makes your car a bit slower.

the only thing 18" wheels do for a celica is look cool, other than that, the cons outweigh the pros. with a big enough tire on a 17" wheel you wouldn't notice the difference between them and 18" wheels, at all.

This post has been edited by sinner96ST: Sep 8, 2006 - 8:12 AM