Rims sizes and handling

[anthony_VWJET]

Today I thought I'd go out and have a look as to what rims would suit the Jetta. Originally I was looking into only getting 18s or 19s but came across a set off 22s that I thought looked nice. Before i thought the 18s or 19s would look big, but for some reason it looked small, with the 22s hitting the spot.

I was aiming for 18s or 19s so my handling wouldnt be that much effected, but my question is how much of a difference will it make if i was to go any bigger?

Please no legal talk or insurance talk

Thanks for the help

For those interested in what the rims were they were these but NOT chrome. Not a fan of chrome at all..

http://www.ozzytyres.com.au/Content_Common/pr-Evulve-Wheels_C2.seo

The rims i saw today had a machined finish, which gave it a nice bright mat shine/Stainless steel look.

[Tim]

anything bigger than 20" would probably be impossible!

[bazzle]

Put your curent tyre size in this

http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp

or

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

and the new size to match same diameter.

I wont mention its not legal etc.
Handling will be crap as soon as you turn or corner due to camber and caster angles changes with no sidewall to compensate.

I also doubt you can get a 15 profile tyre to match orig diameter

Ha Bazzle

[schoona]

The 20s will look hot anyway. 22s, if you can run them would be sweet, OTT but sweet. Make a statement haha. Just get your speedo redone to offset the inability to get the right tyre size. In any case, that looks like a classy design. The diameter is a problem, thought about width?

[Tim]

why stop at 22" ?!

[kryten2001]

Today I thought I'd go out and have a look as to what rims would suit the Jetta. Originally I was looking into only getting 18s or 19s but came across a set off 22s that I thought looked nice. Before i thought the 18s or 19s would look big, but for some reason it looked small, with the 22s hitting the spot.

I was aiming for 18s or 19s so my handling wouldnt be that much effected, but my question is how much of a difference will it make if i was to go any bigger?

Please no legal talk or insurance talk

Thanks for the help

For those interested in what the rims were they were these but NOT chrome. Not a fan of chrome at all..

http://www.ozzytyres.com.au/Content_Common/pr-Evulve-Wheels_C2.seo

The rims i saw today had a machined finish, which gave it a nice bright mat shine/Stainless steel look.

I recall reading somewhere, but I'm not sure where, that 18's or 19s (at the outset) are the ideal in terms of handling. Anything bigger is for show.

I went through all this when I bought my wheels, and decided to keep the 18's as it was the best compromise between performance and ridability... 19's or higher and you risk losing the fillings in your teeth each time you hit a bump!

Anyway that's the straight dope I was given to me by my wheel guy, and he's a guy who is certainly in the know.... I was asked did I want something for looks or for roadhandling, and I just the former....

Lowered decently onto 18's is a good size for a golf anyway... At least I think....

[five8]

18"

18" rims would look awesome. I'm selling a set from my MK5 GTI

[anthony_VWJET]

Thanks for the help guys! Appreciate it!

I dont really want to be making a statement, and the question really doesnt come down to performance or aesthetics as Krysten said, but im split both ways so...

I probably just need to go out again and have a good look around, would anyone know of any decent places for rims around Sydney? Im trying to avoid the usual places like Tempe and Taleb...

[STV4SYT]

The other consideration is that anything bigger than an 18 the tyres start becoming very expensive.

[seangti]

the ride quality will be bloody awful, not to mention to considerable risk of damaging rims with such a low profile tyre. It'd probably look like a tractor with such a big rim if it's not lowered, so lowered, massive rims and no sidewalls... you won't wanna drive the thing.

Full respect for wanting to go there, but you'd likely regret it unless you like sitting in car parks...

[AGO41T]

20's would be perfect! 22's will be too big and there isnt much rims to choose from

[G-rig]

If you get 22's you should definitely get chrome, as it will be all for show and heavy as anything. Good way of making your car slower.

Suspension first, and I'd limit it to 19" personally (18" is probably the best though).

[gregozedobe]

You did ask for opinions, even if they aren't what you want to hear.

I'm sure I've read at least one tyre comparison (on a Golf GTI in the UK) that found out the std 17" tyres were several seconds faster a lap than ALL the hi-po 18" tyres they were testing. 19" and bigger still, and are extremely unlikely to handle better than the 17s.

As others have mentioned, as the wheel diameter increases, so does the price, while grip and ride comfort decreases. Lower profile tyres are more prone to tyre and wheel damage from potholes etc.

You are the only one that can decide exactly where your preferences are in the handling/looks/price/ride compromise. If you do go big, look carefully at offsets and clearances, otherwise you might damage your brand new tyres just by going over bumps

[GTI_racer]

When trying to get the best performance out of a tyre there becomes a point where the benefit from going to a bigger rim / tyre combination is a disadvantage.

TG Aus showed this with the tuned HSV w/ Supercharger. They tested with 22" and 20" rims and the 20" were significantly faster.
They then went on to explain how this works.

Basically the optimum profile for tyres is somewhere around 50. This has been backed up by several tyre tests with GTI's on 17" rims being 2-3 sec a lap faster than the same car on 18".

In the end its all up to personal preferance, and I tihnk 17-18 look best on our cars, but if you want to go to 22" go for it.

[kryten2001]

Yeah most advice I've heard (and read here in this thread) is that 17's are best for roadholding, and 18's are better for hard cornering/racing, but only marginally.

Anything bigger than that might look a bit better (19's look OK I suppose) but anything 20" and larger just looks plain stupid... The cars are simply too small....

And who wants to pay out the ringer for something that only looks marginally better.....

Anybody here priced up some rubber for 19" wheels? I suspect it aint a pretty price.....

Go the 18's mate.... On pirelli rubber.... You won't look back.