I just got my Z and it came with brand new rubber on the 18's. I'm wondering if i should sell everything on eBay and upgrade to new 19" wheels/tires, or stick with 18's and just upgrade the wheels? Two things i know i should take into consideration are cost and speed. If i buy 19's, i'm gonna have to buy a whole new set of rubber, and that costs money. If it's really worth it, i'll go for it, but is it? Which brings us to number two: speed. Are 19's gonna slow my car down? Because i am planning to race it, though not sure how extensively. I've never raced cars in the past, but it's something i've wanted to do as a kid, so i can see myself getting really into it.

 

if ur gonna race go 17s cuz less spun weight, tires r cheaper to go through...
both street + show = 18s
show = 19+

 

I think 17's-18's race, 19's the best of both worlds street & show and 20's nothing but show!

 

go with 20's...they look great and don't make the ride rough like people think...and i can still smoke people

 

+1. The “bigger is better” wheel trend is not a search for performance, in fact, bigger may hurt performance. Big wheels and tires (say 19-inches) weigh more than a 17-inch set up. For performance, look at lightweight forged wheels.

 

How big is the performance difference between 18 and 19? I'm not gonna do 17, that's for sure

 

In my experience...the differences are kind of minimal. The BIGGEST difference is $$$$ per tire. A lot of race tires are more available in the 18's and are a lot cheaper. To prove it....I just bought 2 Kumho's for 180 a piece. Now Kumhos are okay...but these are not the best ones out there. 255/40 19. I also got BF Goodrich g-Force KDW gen 2 tires. 255/40 18's. These are a lot better than the Kumhos.....and cost me like 150 per tire. Go figure. Better tires....for a complete set..you would be saving like 90 bucks right there on a BETTER tire versus a decent tire with the only difference is the 1 inch between them. Do a search on TireRack. The 18's have a lot more options in the different sizes versus the 19's at a better price. The tires are going to get burned anyhow...and so will your cash on the 19's and larger.

The rotational mass issue........a little over played between the 18" and the 19" rim diameters. There is a difference yes. Fractions of a second means a win or loss...yes. But just the cost alone on tires forced me to buy another set of 18's to run at the tracks and SCCA events.

 

Each 1-inch change in performance is minimal, but there is a change. I would visit autocross and the track, and talk to racers. Some prefer short 30-series sidewalls. Others like the flex characteristics of “fat” sidewalls such as 50-series. There is no one set-up which is perfect for every racer and car.

 

[QUOTE=XLR8SN]...the differences are kind of minimal. The BIGGEST difference is $$$$ per tire. QUOTE]


+1


2 replacement 275/19 S-03's cost about the same as a set of 4 potenzas for my old civic!

 

what do you mean by racing?

 

Not really sure. Guess that tells you all you wanted to know

 

its not worth all the money for the extra 1 inch 19's. even though im not a big fan of 20's, in your case, stick to the +2 and go with the 20's.