Jakers

right now i have stock 14s on my car, but in another 10,000 miles i will need new tires, and i want to put new rims on. ive looked at a couple places and they have told me i could put up to 17s on my car. so what would you guys recommend, like is there a noticable diff in the size of the tire? or what are some advantages disadvantages of the tire size?

Tranquilized

Get some 18" spinners. That would be pimp.

Jakers

well im not looking for spinners, cant afford those, but am looking for chrome

JCmaz

It may sound cheesey, but check out http://www.discounttire.com/- there's a good bit of info on plus sizes on the "tires" tab.

RipperSnapper

17s should be fine, but remember, Chrome= Weight. So if your if your going for "pimp" thats fine. IMO, chrome is a downgrade if your going to try to get timeslips down. A polished lip style rim can look just as sweet and more effective.

kargoboy

I agree. But pimp is not my style, anyway.
Every time I see a wheel that catches my eye, it seems to be 5zigen, they have some real beauties IMO. I also like some Motegi designs but a lot of their offsets won't work with our cars.
MSP Racing Harts are sweet, too--I really like the gunmetal finish.

Oh, and P.S.--read the sticky in the tire/wheel section.

juddz

I have experience with this. My previous car (2001 Neon) had 17" Konig wheels on it, along with 40-series tires. If I ever do decide to change the polished wheels on my Protege, I think I may either stick to 16" with 50 series tires, or go with 17" wheels and a slightly wider tire (witch means the sidewall will also be slightly taller, since the "40" of "50" is a percentage value for the width of the tire). In my experience with 205/40/R17 tires on 17" rims, I found the following:
1) Less sidewall means that there is less cushion between the tire and the road. Vibration due to slight imbalance is far worse. I had to take the car back 3 times to get the tires balanced to my satisfaction (no vibration through the steering column at 70mph).
2) Less sidewall means that potholes are a greater nuisance. It is a lot easier to bend a rim on a pothole with such a set up. Trust me, been there done that.
3) If you drive near the limit, a smaller sidewall means there is less warning that the traction is about to go. An experienced driver can feel the sidewall flex before the squeel turns into a full slide.
4) Remember that weight, stiffness, and proper application (correct offset, etc) are far more important than style alone, if you are expecting the mod to be a performance benefit. Those big chrome rims you see in the rap videos with the spinners on them are HEAVY. Added weight in the wheel area means more unsprung weight, which hurts handling. If you are serious about performance over style, figure out what kind of sidewall you can live with, think about a target weight, and shop around accordingly. Motegi, Nakayama, Racing Hart - brands do matter, so choose a good one - you'll be glad that you paid for well engineered parts (light, strong, and corrosion resistant). Oh, and one more thing - buy a good set of tires? It's stupid to spend a lot of money on performance rims, only to wrap them in poor quality Nankang tires. Falken Azenis are rather nice, and a good value. But, there are a lot of good choices out there. Just my 2cents.

rustychops41

Bravo to juddz! It's so depressing to see so many cars with nice wheels wrapped in Nankang or Wanli tires. Can you say "lowest bidder?" The tire is the Single Most Important Thing about how the car handles, and is the sole connection betweent you and the road. It wouldn't cost most people an extra $100 to get better rubber on their wheels, and it's money well spent.

Jakers

thanx for the help guys, i forgot that the chroms do weigh more. i am looking to make it faster, cause honestly stock 1.6 is one of the slowest cars that ive driven, but still a real fun car to drive. do you think id notice the extra weight with the chrome? i was also thinking aboiut gettin the gunmetal black, how would you think theyd look with the tan colored car? thanx for the help

mgs_freak

You can get some light weight 14" aluminum rims from tirerack.com. They won't look as good as 17s but they'll be faster. Not to mention much cheaper when you look for tires to fit them.

RipperSnapper

We'll you'll only really notice the difference at the track. On the time slips. But, you know how it is. Even a tenth of a second could determine if you have a 15 second car or a 14 second car.
Gunmetal goes good with almost anything.

Jakers

yes they would be lighter, but i honestly havn't found any 14s online at all that i like, i kinda am into chrome, cause i figure if your paying that much money it mine as well look nice

juddz

.... another suggestion. Take a look at the wheel and tire ads in Grass Roots Motorsports magazine, as opposed to Sport Compact Car. It will help you price out serious wheel and tire packages, versus some of cheap-o Chinese rims and tires that are popping up in the compact mags these days. It is true that you will not see a lot of gigantic wheels out on the track. IMO: do NOT buy your wheels and tires from Wheelguyz, Wheels Max, etc if you want quality parts.

Stueck

another thing about Low profiles, its handling is the same as regular rims until the near breaking point, i believe. my dads miata had stock 15's on it then he switched to 17's from the MSM.

Phantom Cruiser

I have 16s, 17s, and 18s for my P5. They all serve their specific function. The 16s are my around town/driving in the winter wheels with decent Toyos on them. The 17s have my track tires (again Toyos) on them, and my 18s are for show only. I suggest looking at the pricing of tires when you are looking to upgrade your wheels. If you can afford really nice tires in the 17" size, then do it. Just remember the price when one of them gets shredded (my favorite thing btw ). The bigger the sidewall, the better the ride too. My vote would go to some nice 16s with really good tires on them.