I'm shopping for track (HPDE) wheels and was wondering if there was a preference between 17" and 18" for those who have ran both.

Looking at the "show me your track wheels" thread it looks like more of you run 18" than 17".

TIA,
Mike

 

I preferred my 17s. The car had great balance and the tires are cheaper.

I never heard back from you about my 5zigens. If you are still interested, let me know. I can meet you anytime.

 

+1 on the 17's.
A set of 275 NT01's for those wheels will cost $800. If you rotate them between events, they will last you an entire season.
For performance and price, that is hard to beat!!!!

 

no dk.... i still want those!!!!

 

All right I get it, 17's are lighter and cheaper to run. So... why do so many people run 18's?

Keith, I'm still looking but your on on my short list.

 

People run 18's because there is a larger tire selection if you decide to get a size 265 and wider, especially for street tires (AD08, Star Specs, RS3, RE-11, XS). If you plan go no wider than 255's on street tires, then I would go with the 17's. If not, then 18's are the way to go due to the tire selections.

 

A 17" wheel of the same width may be lighter than it's 18" counterpart, however, a 275/40/17 tire, for example, will be heavier than it's 275/35/18 counterpart. To me, there is no benefit for weight between a 17 and 18" set-up.

Correct. Also, there are many more used-but-near-perfect 18" tires out there, but also of importance is the fact that tire manufacturers design and optimize their tires to an 18" size, not 17 or 19" since 18s are most common.