Can anyone help me out? Need some expert advice. I'm currently choosing between 17 and 18 rims. I have an MC 2008 and running with stocks. We all know that 18s give a great look to our cars but does it compromise the ride and comfort? 17s as some say is pretty safe in terms of comfort since the tires can be thicker. In my area, there are quite a lot of bumps and uneven roads. And in case I choose 18s, will it somewhat change the ride height of the car as well? I'm not really a fan of too lowered cars. Hoping to get the same height as it is with stock. I just bought koni fsd shocks, would it help? How about the tire sizes, what would best fit 17 and 18 rims? Basically its looks vs comfort. Is it possible to have both?? Please guys need your know-how on this.

 

215/45/17's are the size I'd target!

 

I'm no expert but typically less sidewall will translate into a harsher ride but better handling. It will also increase the chance of wheel damage when encountering road hazards such as potholes.

I'm assuming your stock tires are 205/45/17 which has a sidewall of approximately 3.6" and a diameter of approximately 24.3". If you use an 18" wheel with a tire that has close to the same diameter(205/40/18) you will have a sidewall of approximately 3.2" and a diameter of approximately 24.5".

215/45/17 = sidewall of approximately 3.8" and a diameter of approximately 24.6" but slightly wider than a 205/45/17.

Also a different diameter tire will cause your speedometer to read incorrectly.

Hope this helps...

 

I run 215/45/17's along with Koni FSD's and am very happy with the ride quality. If you have a lot of potholes, you probably will be happier with 17's as opposed to 18's.

 

My old '02 MCS had 205/40/R17s. Combine that with a dropped KW suspension, and the ride was rough (but stiff, and it cornered excellent). I later changed it out for a Koni Stage 3 kit, and that helped smooth out the ride (though it was back to stock suspension height, and the springs were not adjustable).

The best balance would probably be the factory size of 205/45/R17s. That's what I have now, and that extra little sidewall seems to make a big difference.

 

Thanks guys for the the tip!!! Now I'm more incline to choose 17" since my priority is more of the comfort ride. Guess I'm getting old. If I place 215/45/17, would it have the same wheel gap from the fender as oppose to having the stock or would it lessen? Having a bigger wheel with a wide gap might look like an AWD!

 

Any 17" wheel is going to fill up the wheel well nicely and either size tire should not give the AWD look.

 

16" wheels for smoother ride and better performance. !7" or 18" for bling.

 

Yup, but the options given were 17 or 18's.

 

This involves math, so get your aspirin ready.

Gap will shrink slightly with each 17" size increase. For 205/45/R17s, take 205 x .45 to get 92.25mm of sidewall (of which some may be behind the rim edge to get the bead). 1" is roughly 25.4mm. 92.25 / 25.4 is about 3.63".

So, overall diameter is: 17 + (3.63 * 2) = 24.26"

For 215/45/R17s, it's 96.75mm, a 4mm increase (which is roughly 3/16"):

96.75 / 25.4 = 3.81
17 + (3.81 * 2) = 24.62"


215/50/R17s would be 107.5mm, which is about another 1/2" on top of that:

107.5 / 25.4 = 4.23
17 + (4.23 * 2) = 25.46"

 

Cool! Jumpingjackflash sure gave me a dose of the technical aspect! With all your best advice, 215/45/R17 + koni fsd shocks fits my taste! Thanks guys! Vroomvroom!!!