Im seriously considering moving up to an 18'' wheel from a 17 inch. If done right I think it really looks good, but I dont want to do it if it is gonna slow the car down dramaticly. Any real world expieience would be awesome!

 

i went from my stock 16s to vette wagon 17x8.5 in front 18x9.5 in back and didnt notcie any loss at all and theyre considerably heavier, im also running taller wheels in the back 275/40/18s they only threw off the speedo about 2-3 mph but again i noticed NOTHING in speed loss

 

not really sure about speed, but from a 17 to an 18 inch tire expect to spend at least $50 more per tire, you decide if its worth it...

 

How about traction off the line? Ive narrowed it down to 2 settups, 1(performance) 17x11 rears w/315 nitto's,sportline springs and the traction bolt-ons. Or,2(looks) stock hight, 18x9.5's w/275/35 rubber. It would be nice to know how drastic the difference would be between the two. The 18's just look so damn nice,but it seems in comparison, that the 17x11 rear settup would would be a HUGE differenc in performance...decisions, decisions...

 

well i have not had the 17x11 rears but i know the aftermarket 17x11's are also heavy maybe even morso than the 18x9.5, i have 275/35/18 bfg g-force sport rubber that were about 160 each from tire rack and they hook up pretty well when its warm. My car makes about 350 rwhp through a m6 spec IV

 

If you have a wider tire in a 17 inch wheel, you are going to hook up better than a skinnier tire on a 18 inch wheel.

I myself just sold my 17X9.5's with 275's on them for an 18X10 with a 305 on it. I am not expecting to see much if any loss since I am getting a wider tire. However the lower profile will hurt you a little bit by going to a larger wheel (unless you do like me and get a wider tire to compensate for it).

 

traction has much less to do with wheel width then it does tire compound and sidewall height. the taller the sidewall the more it will flex and thus better traction, and obviously the softer and stickier the compound the better the traction. wider is NOT always better.

 

Who'd you sell those 17x9s to... I just put em on last nite and the difference is amazing...compared to black salad shooters! Can you fit 315s on those rims?

To the OP, if you go 18's, go as wide as you can afford..I can't see them hurting your speed too awful much. It'd be pretty stellar to have a set of 18's w/ 315s on em!

 

I knew a guy that lost a couple mph in the 1/4 going from 17's to 18's.

 

You got any pics of that beast yet? I don't think you can go much wider than a 285 or so having them being a 9.5 wide wheel. I know with the 10 inch wide ones I am getting, the largest is a 305.


I agree that wider is not always better, however in some cases it is. You can't tell me that a 245/45ZR16 is going to hook better than a 305/35ZR18. You are talking about a lot of increase in surface area (this is also asuming the two have similar type of tires). A big loss in profile for a marginal increase in width will loose traction. It just depends on how much increase and decrease of both.

 

omg....

 

for the origonal poster..... buy the 18's and use ur stock wheels for the strip with a nice set of radials on them!

 

Thats a good idea as well.

 

Yea, I hear ya. Not sure how much im gonna make it to the track this summer. so my main concern right now is traction on the street. I dont want to run the 275/35/18's if all im gonna do is burn 'em through 1st and 2nd and lose every street race because of traction issues. If I went w/the 18's Id keep it at stock hieght, whereas if i got the 17x11's id probly lower it alittle. this weekend im installing some sfc's, lca's, and relocators, also the 18's would be getting some stckier rubber than my fuzion zri's that I have now. Im thinkin that would offset any loss in traction that would occur(my concern is that those upgrades might not IMPROVE traction when running the 18's). Do you guys think with that settup id be safe? Id get some 18x10's if i could find any besides the c6 replicas on ebay...(whew!)

 

I think if you are getting a stickier tire you should be fine. I know a drop in profile will hurt you a little (again asuming the type of tire and width are the same as before), I don't think it will be THAT big of a difference. (If someone knows otherwise from actual experience feel free to correct me here)