I'm trying to decide what size wheels to get. They will be on a '97 Accord, lowered 1.2" - 1.75", no body kit. I have made a list of pros and cons, but still having trouble.

15" Pros:
Light weight
Smoother ride
Cheaper tire replacement

15" Cons:
Don't look as good
Don't corner as well

17" Pros:
Better looks
Better cornering

17" Cons:
Expensive tire replacement
Harsher ride
More likely to bend rim if I hit a bad pot hole
Heavier

16" would be a happy median, but the recommended tire size is kind of hard to find and not really any cheaper than the 17" tires. Please help.

cornering is more in the width of the wheel/tire than the diameter. I used to have 14x6" wheels and they cornered like crap (an weighed 21.5 lbs a piece), but my 17x7.5 Racing Hart C2evos (which i am selling right now) corner like crazy, and actually weigh 20.1 lbs a piece. So, the moral of this story is that...um...you shouldn't judge a wheel by its diameter...i guess...lol

17".

Why would anyone buying custom wheels go with anything less? 15" custom wheels with stock diameter tires looks kinda' wierd and throws the car out of proportion (theres a whole lotta' black rubber surrounding a shiny new wheel). If you decide to go with 15", then don't waste your money, just stick with the stock wheels.

BTW, I am a professional designer and I deal with issues of aesthetics on a daily basis.

Anyway... just my 2 cents.

hmmm...if you care about weight, i've found a 15x7" wheel that weighs 10.5 lbs, and has proven durability...they're called "speedmasters" (sm-046)

I'm trying to decide what size wheels to get. They will be on a '97 Accord, lowered 1.2" - 1.75", no body kit. I have made a list of pros and cons, but still having trouble.

15" Cons:
Don't look as good
Don't corner as well

17" Pros:
Better looks
Better cornering



Obviously you don't know much about wheels or suspension or handling for that matter. :rolleyes:

15's DO NOT corner worse than "17's Cornering ability is all in your tires, type of compound used, width and how good your suspension system as a whole is. Wheel/tire diameter has nothing to do with cornering or handling. To prove my point, some of the best Solo auto-X racers win their class at the Topeka KS national finals on "13 wheels. That's right, "13!!! Given they are a 13x10 wheel (so 10 inch width that comes out to), but still "13 is "13!

BTW, bigger wheels don't always look better either. ;) Also you can dump a car's suspension lower on "15's because they aren't as big, so you can lower further on them.

You beat me to it :)

Try making your car's motor try to turn 17x10" wheels with tires to fit! You can't :) They would weigh like 40lbs/wheel :)

17 inch = Pimped nice looking ride

15 inch = Makes you faster in a straight line

well the logical reasons have been put out but i think that something purposeful looking is cool thats why i dislike 17s thats showy and a set of light 15"s with some grippy rubbers looks lot sicker

I'd go with 16's. If not, definitely 15's. Stay the hell away from 17's.

Yeah, go with 15s surely...unless of course, you would like to buy my 17s... :lol2:

you will have more touque with the 15's, but personally I really like the way 17's look on accords. If you could afford some really light weight 17's that would be nice. I guess it is up to you. Go to a web site with a bunch of pictures of your car, (like car domian) and scroll through them. By seeing other cars like yours with diff rims you will be able to tell which you would perfer.

You beat me to it :)

Try making your car's motor try to turn 17x10" wheels with tires to fit! You can't :) They would weigh like 40lbs/wheel :)

And that's just sitting still, not counting rotational mass when in motion. ;)

Well, I guess that once you take away my ill-informed statement about 17's having better cornering than 15's, it left better looks being the only positive for the 17's and that doesn't outweight all of the positives of the 15's. Looks like 15's it is.

SilverY2KCivic...I checked out the pics of your car and you actually have the wheels I'm looking at and they look nice on your Civic. How do you like your Rota Circuit 8's? I have a black car and I'm trying to decide between the Gun metal w/ polished lip, silver, or steel grey. Also, how do you like your Yoko AVS ES100's? Mine came with Yoko T4's (195/60 15)...not the greatest.

Well, I guess that once you take away my ill-informed statement about 17's having better cornering than 15's, it left better looks being the only positive for the 17's and that doesn't outweight all of the positives of the 15's. Looks like 15's it is.

SilverY2KCivic...I checked out the pics of your car and you actually have the wheels I'm looking at and they look nice on your Civic. How do you like your Rota Circuit 8's? I have a black car and I'm trying to decide between the Gun metal w/ polished lip, silver, or steel grey. Also, how do you like your Yoko AVS ES100's? Mine came with Yoko T4's (195/60 15)...not the greatest.

I love my C8's. I've had them for about 2 years now. I'm actually about to get another set of them, but in the back face with polished lip, and then use the silver ones for race only (auto-X/road racing). The ES100's are by far the best tire I've driven on yet to date. They corner and gip VERY well, do me good justice even when auto-X'ing on them, and they still manage to handle quite well in wet weather driving. My ES's are size 205/50 15 so that's what I'd highly recommend you get, slighty wider than 195 width, and they look awesome on Rota wheels. I'm waiting till my ES100's wear out so I can try some Yolohama Advan A043's. They are supposed to grip almost as well as the Advan A032R's but have twice the tread life of those tires.

For your car, I'd say either go the gunmetal on polished lip, or the steel gray color. :cool:

you should go wid some tenzo's that would look clean 17" i can hook u up on with a good price, get back at me. thanks