Every Samson has a Delilah. However, since my hair is already short, there is nothing to cut away. Don't think women have any interest in my hair too much. However, if you know of any Philistine temples that need to be pulled down, let me know.

 

I do not know the exact weight of my OEM wheels. They are sport oem 18" rims, I think they are 24lbs?

My 19" volks weigh about 20 lbs for the rear rims and 19 for the fronts. If you get any volk wheel that is forged in 18 or 19", they will most likely weigh less than an oem wheel.

 

The rims could be lighter than the 17s, but the what about the tires? Tires are usually much heavier than the rims, especially low profile tires due to their super thick sidewalls.

Also, moment of inertia is much higher with a larger rim because the mass is further from the hub. The overall weight could be the same, but the moment of inertia will be quite a bit higher.

Finally, wider rims/tires create more drag, aerodynamic and frictional.

Going from the OEM 17" setup to a typical wide 19" setup will probably make the car 0.2 seconds and 1.5mph slower in the 1/4 mile. Maybe even worse.

Traction will be harder to come by too. Wide low profile tires are great for lateral G's, but they suck for straightline grip due to the wide, but narrow contact patch. A G35 sedan on light 17X8 rims with street-based auto-x spec rubber will run circles around a G35 sedan on 19X8.5 rims and sticky summer rated rubber.

 

It depends heavily on what you are looking for:

1) Look
2) Handling, i.e. Skipad
3) Straight line Acceleration


Just like what Dave has said, alot of people have forgot about moment of inertia when they go with bigger rims (bigger means larger diameter as well as width).

Edit: Moment of Inertia is proportional to the square of the radius multiplied by Mass and a constant that depends on the mass distribution... In a nutshell, a larger rim of the same mass would require a larger Force to accelerate when compared a smaller rim of the same mass

Anyhow, i would say just don't go too big and too wide; you should be really happy with your new setup =)

 

Thanks DaveB. This is again exactly what I was looking for. I am thinking now about getting 18" Volks with a 245 tire. Thanks bro.

 

Good points. I am not so much interested in the bling factor as I am in improving the handling. The stock Turanzas are a joke. I want something that will improve the handling, but I don't want to compromise the acceleration of the car. Of course it's nice to have a cool looking wheel too, so long as the performance of the car improves. I think from all the feedback that I will stay away from the 19s and go to an 18" Volk with a 245 tire all around. Hopefully the weight will be similar to the stock setup so that the acceleration will be comparable to what it is now with better handling and braking. Thanks for your help.

 

So for all around performance what is the optimum size wheel height and width?