17's or 18's

[Go Dawgs!]

ok. I need some opinions. I've noticed alot of people with 17 inch rims and wanted to know if 18's cause any problems with the Celica (ride quality, rim damage, etc...)
let me know what you think...

[chameleon]

The ride quality is poor but tolorateable, and if you are extra careful, you should be able to get away with the reduced rim protection, but the risk of bending a rim is definately there. To be honest, 18" rims are a little too out of spec to be used on a Celica, they are just plain too overly big for the car. But a lot of people run them and love them. If you really like the looks of the 18" wheels, I think that you would be happy with them. I opted for 17" wheels myself.

[Jeff Adams]

I am in the sam dilemma right now. I don't know if I want 17's or 18's. I have so many people telling me to go with 18's. I might just do that due to the fact that the stock 16's on it now look so tiny. 17's are just one step up form that. I just don't want to screw up my car at all.

[baNanA_ryCe]

i'm goin for 17" even though ppl are telling me 18" looks better. i really don't want to go through truble w/ my car..i'm keeping it safe too

[DONIV]

i had the same dilemma as well when buying my wheels. i purchased some 17 last summer and now i want 18'' wheels. my 18's are coming in tue or wed. make sure u have a firm decision when selecting a size so u dont lose any dough like me.

[kuruptgt]

i got the same problem i orderdd 17s now that there here i want 18s.

[chameleon]

You know that just getting 18's wont fill the wheel gap any more than your stock wheels, right? If you want to fill the gap more with the wheels you will need to put tires on them with a higher side wall to make the overall diameter of the wheel/tire greater than the stock diameter. If you are going to make the overall diameter larger than the stock diameter, why not just put tires with a little more sidewall on 17's? I mean, we are only talking about an inch here...

[baNanA_ryCe]

gud point

[Blue Batmobile]

Very good point. I decided to stick with 17's myself. 18's definately have the look going for them, but at the same time, tires are hella more expensive, and wheels are slightly heavier, and the ride comfort isn't all that great, plus yer wheels are more prone to getting bent. I know some peeps that have actually dropped from 18's to 17's.

Bat

[Go Dawgs!]

thanks for the info. I think I'll start with TRD springs then get 17"s.

[WillyWonka]

Go Dawgs!

That's where I'm headed as well. TRD Springs will be installed in a few days...17's later on.

[Blue Batmobile]

Here's my TRD drop with17's:).

Bat

[zcs626]

after i saw TJ's (xerodegrees) ride ive decided on 18's. not to copy ya man you just beat me to it. haha =D

[Jesse IL]

Hold on, there's some serious misinformation going on here. First off, unless you buy Nitto NT555's in 225/40-17, the only way to maintain the stock rolling diameter is to stick to 205/45-17. Most people either go with smaller 215/40-17 or larger 215/45-17 tires. With 18's, you can easily keep the stock rolling diameter by going to a 225/35-18 tire. 18's will appear to fill the wheel well more because the distance from the bodywork to the rim edge is smaller, regardless of the actual gap between the fender and the tire edge. As an additional note, 215/40-17 tires can look a bit wierd because the actually INCREASE the gap between the tire and fender.

[DONIV]

hey jesse il
will 225/35/18 fit a celica lowered bout 2 inches?

[Jesse IL]

it should, just keep the offset of the wheel as close to stock (+39) as possible and don't go over 8 inches in rim width.

[DONIV]

i just put on my 225/35/18 today and guess what? They fit!
thanks Jesse

[kabal57]

Originally posted by Jesse IL
Hold on, there's some serious misinformation going on here. First off, unless you buy Nitto NT555's in 225/40-17, the only way to maintain the stock rolling diameter is to stick to 205/45-17. Most people either go with smaller 215/40-17 or larger 215/45-17 tires. With 18's, you can easily keep the stock rolling diameter by going to a 225/35-18 tire. 18's will appear to fill the wheel well more because the distance from the bodywork to the rim edge is smaller, regardless of the actual gap between the fender and the tire edge. As an additional note, 215/40-17 tires can look a bit wierd because the actually INCREASE the gap between the tire and fender.

ok something aint quite right here, 215/40/17 will not increase the wheel gap THAT much, the overall size is just slightly smaller than the regular stock 15" , like jesse says, the gap will appear bigger than with a 18"/35 , but really won't be.
as for going with a 45 series 17" you will actually be increasing your wheel diamater, thus DECREASING your revolutions per mile, (to about 820 from the normal 845 or so) and your speedo should be off by about 2 mph or so.
45 series tires on a 17" wheel will increase your overall wheel diamater by 1/2 an inch over stock..
which may look abit better, but will negatively affect your speedo, even if it is just a little bit.
any holes to this that anyone can see?
If I could get away w 18" on a 40 series tire, I'd do it, but its not worth the negatives for me. To maintain the stock rolling diamater I'd have to use a 35 series tire..(very low sidewall, usually heavier wheels, not any wheel protection to speak of, plus I hear they are more prone to bending? )