Hey!

I'm going to be buying new tires for my car this year and was wondering if there are any performance gains (hooking and handling) from going with a bigger rim size. Right now, I have 16s with 235/55s and am looking at going with 245/50s...most likely a set of firestone wide ovals. Is there any real benefits (besides looks) of upgrading to a 17" rim with 275/40s?

Thanks!

 

not really, It's just you can't find any wide 16's wheels really.

 

Well.........you could feasibly go with something much larger than 275's.

A 315 will fit on 17's.

That's a whole ton more contact patch on the road which equals to better handling and traction overall.

But yes - wider rubber provides more performance gains...........how much is hard to say. I'd say not enough that for our level of driving we would even notice it.

 

Well I would say pick a tire, then let's talk.

I had to go with 18s to get the tire I wanted (KDW IIs), although you can get similar tires I was set on this one.

I would also say that a tire wider than a 245 does indeed help traction, enough that in my mind it's worth it to go to at least a 17" rim.

Plus a 17" allows for a lower profile tire to help with handling as well.

And you can get 17"s pretty cheap these days. I'd say a 17 is probably a good along with good tires.

 

Thanks for the responses. I agree that a tire with more of a contact patch on the road is a good thing. Being budget minded though, throwing a new set of tires on the stock 16" rims (currently still on stock badyear tires) would leave more money for something like a sway bar upgrade and/or subframe connectors than if I went with new 17" rims and tires. I'm still leaning towards getting the firestone wide ovals as they seems to have pretty good reviews and can be a good bang for the buck when on sale.

So far, it looks like two of you say stick with the 16's and one says go for the 17's. I may have to do a little web shopping to see what kinds of deals I can find on a rim/tire packages.