Hot70Mach1

i have a 2001 GT, i currently have 17 inch factory buillit rims. the car is currently on stock suspension. but i want to lower the front by and 1.25 inch and the rear by an inch. i was originally going to go with 18 inch wheels with lower profile tires. but im wodering does a 17 inch wheel offer any performance advantage?

4.698GT

18s will look good, but will drain your wallet. 17s look good, usually alot cheaper. The 17s have a larger sidewall but not much more then a 18inch tire. I stuck with 17s because the tires are too expensive for an 18inch rim

03sonicgt

I would go with 17's for a number of reasons...tire prices for 18 inch rims are crazy, and you can fit a taller sidewall on the 17's which will flex a bit more and help you hook more at the track. But 18's do look good on some good cars.

Hot70Mach1

yeah thanks i noticed price wise it was a lot more to go up, im willing to bet itll look nicer with 18 rims, my friend has some on his, gets rid of that wheel well uglyness, but im looking for more performance. i just wanted to make sure i was making a good choice.

4.698GT

I got ya by 18 seconds woo hoo

kirk4514

get 18x10 in the back and 18x9 in the front, whatever you do i dont reccomend getting 17s or you wont be happy

Shifty Powers

yes 17s can offer an advantage in performance.. quite significantly actually.. 18s can actually be lighter if u do ur homework..

now.. depending on what rims u get in what size.. lets say 17s... i have 17' 03 cobras which weigh about 25lbs so not much more then my stock cobra wheels would.. 17' DD FR500s weigh like 35-40 lbs... thats a good 10-15 lbs of rotational mass added to each wheel.. rotaional mass slows things down alot more(about 4x so) then dead weight(body weight)..

this is the same kind of concept of an aluminum driveshaft or flywheel.. in a different sence.

but you can find lightweight wheels that are 18s and whatnot.. now most of the time this doesnt really matter but if ur really looking into ur question, then yes it does matter.. if ur car is just show and some go, then dont worry.. if it has enough power, u can slide(but urs doesnt)..

now this might not of helped cuz im not the best at explaining it, but if u need the real writeup on it that explains it alot better ill find it for you... just make sure to email me or something cuz im usually never on here.. itl help u alot, even on what wheels to get.. then well go from there to what looks best...

StickShifty

i have first hand experience, 18 are way too expensive. go with 17s. and a nice drop.

straitwangin

Staggered stace. 17x9 up front on 255's 18x10's on 295's out back.

Shifty Powers

ok i found the write and some other stuff to consider for you my man.. if u want performacne do ur HW and u can find 18' wheels that are lighter then alot of 17s and still look amazing.. but u have to pay to play, so ur gunna look at a more expensive rim... going from a 17-18 does cut down on acceleration snf you will notice it going from 2-3..
im actually going to make another post about this.. so watch for it... itl be up in 5 minutes... great info if u ask me,, anyone thinking anything about this should read it.. made some ppl i know go from 18s to 17s