which handles better?? GTI STOCK 17's or 18's

[bsosa69]

Regardless of what the car is used for everyone wants to know what performs better. Even if you rarely race or drive fast, when you do you don't want anything holding you back. I always would chose performance over looks.

 

[Maseroche]

We also seem to get the Contis here as well. I'd love to have RE-050 on mine. Hate the Contis!

 

[herrstreet]

Buy the 18s if you want rice it up.

Buy the 17s if you're a driver.

I think that's a bit of an overstatement. The stock wheels are hardly lightweight and they look tiny with the US ride height. The only drawback they have is the ride is a little brittle on small bumps. My car hardly looks ricey.

 

[dvdre]

Man, I just got what came with the car. 17" RE050s.

I can only note that my '99 BMW with the sport package came with 16" wheels, which I guess at the time seemed radical. That car handled great, and the ride quality was quite nice.

I do appreciate ride quality. Hey, I gotta drive this car. I assumed the ride quality with a 17" summer tire would be better than the same tire at 18". And probably cost less, too. And maybe last longer.

The 17" Potenza RE050s certainly handle well enough.

Haven't seen any snow though.

 

[LBVdubin]

I got 18" Visions and I love them. They handle great, look great, and are easy to clean.

 

[Blitzen]

The positive attributes:

The 18' look better, ride harder (less sidewall of the tire), have more stability at higher speeds (higher rotating mass)

The 17' ride better, change direction better (even if the weight might be the same in some cases the weight is closer to the rotating axle), accelerate better (in a car with low hp you might notice it), wider range of tire choices

 

[EL PAALO]

A couple folks commented about exotics and high performance cars being equipped with big wheels ........... that's because they have huge brakes and because people expect them to look like track cars ...... race cars in many series have huge wheels because the have huge brakes mandated. They use the the smallest wheel that fits over the brakes.

Assuming you can use the 18" summers in a Kentucky winter, just get the 18's since that's what you like. The 17's and 18's are both heavy for their size. If you want a performance wheel you'll need to get something else anyway and if you get the 18's, you'll have something you like while you save for the aftermarket wheels. If you need winters, might as well get the 17's and then use them as a winter setup and get aftermarket wheels for the warmer months.

 

[funky_chilli]

ok so that thread was from like 2 years ago....
nowadays i think ppl would be debating 18's or 19's....
same arguments should apply though

 

[EL PAALO]

you would be correct only if the stock choices changed to 18's and 19's, but they're still 17 & 18.