Just bought an 02 WRX silver 17k miles. The future includes wheels and suspension. I've had 18's (225/40) on an Audi A4 with sport package, and it seemed fine. What are your guys' experience and why.

ie:
Are 40s on 18" wheels to stiff/harsh for bay area roads on the Wrx's and what suspensions are you on?
Are 17's more of a comfortable ride?


I love the bling of 18's, but I imagine that a 45 series tire would have a better ride, especially if I eventually plan on coilovers later. Also been reading about the performance difference, but are they really that much of a difference?

Anything would help! Thanks in advance!

 

17's are totally fine, and are on both my WRX's. My wife is sensitive to NVH and wouldn't tolerate them if they made the ride suck.

18's are just pure bling, unless you get super light ones. The extra weight and increased chance of dentage aren't worth it to me.

gl

 

welcome to the club, just wondering, did the 18's on yuor a4 scrub when you took a near slght turn and quick sharp ones?

-kevin

 

17's work well for me: increased feedback but not enough where it's annoying. road noise isn't that bad and acceleration hasn't been affected (wheel weight).

 

i've had both..

The only downside to 18" wheels is that they weigh more.

The ride quality is pretty much the same in both the 17" and 18" wheels...not a major difference at all.

 

225/45s on 17s works nicely.

 

I have 225/40/18's and I love them but then again I like to feel the road, the ONLY issue I have with them, is if you hit a pothole, your whole damn car shakes and rattles like its gonna fall apart, not to mention dented rims. But if your careful, it should be ok. I dont have any problems with my tires rubbing at all, and I have TEIN S-Tech springs (-2.0" front, -1.5" rear) and whiteline f/r sways. I have been thinking about coil overs as well.

-Ted

 

17's just for the cheaper tires.

<-- cheap asian

 

Well, after bending an 18" Prodrive GC07c in Daly City, I decided 17" Rotas would be a better option. Expensive lesson learned. 17" is better for everyday driving.

 

I just switched from stock 16s w/ RE92s to 17s w/ S-03s... there's enough of a difference that my wife noticed. But I don't think it was the switch from 16 to 17s as much as the difference in tire sidewall stiffness. The S-03s have really stiff sidewalls that transmit road vibrations instead of soak them up like the RE92s.

 

Thanks for responding. Please keep em coming!

So far I think that the 17's seem to be the wiser buy. As far as less chance of bending the rim, slightly better ride 45's vs 40's. The only thing that I have to do next is find a 17" wheel that I like visually.

Again I have the Platinum Silver, not sure between a hyper silver rim or bronze or gunmetal? I think that the hyper silver, and lowered just right on silver car might be interesting hmmm? The Rims I'm considering are:

17x8 Rota Torques
17x8 Volk te37 knock-offs through tire.com

I need to do more research.