I went from 18's to 19's and with the Toyo's my ride IMPROVED dramatically and the bounce decreased by a tleast 50%. As far a slooks go, there's no comparison. 19's kick a$$.

 

i have te37 19's dunlop sp9000's.
maybe im a dummy but i prefered the ride of the stock 17's! felt faster somehow, and more assured. heavier too, less nervous. the 19's are sommoth but i get a rolling tin can feeling. but no question, the 19's look much better. on a Z even 19's look normal sized due to the huge wheel wells and high shoulders. my old porsche had 16's and they looked about the same relative to the car!
I see a CS every day with ADR M-SPORT 18's 8.5 on front and 19's 9.5 in the back and that looks AWESOME. makes the car look very aggressive! kinda wish i had done that. dont know much about how that affects ride etc.

 

No regrets here.

Bat™

 

Wow, I never thought about all these issues with bigger rims. The stock 17's I have now are the biggest I have had. I was thinking of buy ing 19's or 20's, but I am starting to doubt that decision. I live in STL now and commute to Chicago on almost a weekly basis. I will probably end up buying the rims anyway, they look too darn good. I guess if I didnt care about looks I woulda bought a WRX, just as fast, but UGLY as hell.

 

Well, the main regret to me is the tires. The options for tires are real limited when it comes to 19s. I would have thought about running some softer compound tires on the back of the car (maybe some kind of drag radial with good rain grooves) for traction once I get more power, but I can't with 19s. Of course, the looks of the 19s make up for a lot of that, cause they look sweeeeet.

 

No regrets here. It really comes down to personal want/need. I am not a big track person or drag strip person and wanted the wheels mainly for looks, but also went with a wider wheel to increase surface area and improve grip and handling. There is definately less porpoising, but it is replaced with a bit more of that sports car feel, bumpy ride instead of bouncing. I prefer the bumpy ride myself over bouncing any day. I was really amazed at the difference in weight from my stock 17s to the Volk LE37Ts with Toyo T1-S tires. I didn't weigh them but the difference was quite obvious when lifting the wheels. I myself like 5 - 7 spoke wheels, which look better when bigger, but if you like the SF Winning style wheels I think it is easier to get away with a smaller size.

 

I got 20" as well. Same wheels too.

 

IMHO, 19s (or bigger) are for show. 17s are for performance. 18s are a compromise, I guess. 19s are not going to aid in handling any more than 17s, they're generally heavier, tire choices are more limited and more expensive.

 

my 19" wheels and tires handle WAY better than my 18", and they are lighter too.

lets not forget that on some of the Touring cars or DTM series cars, they use wheels that are around 19" (or are they 20"??)

 

zzzya, you've got one of the wheels I'm debating over, plus you're in the same climate I'm in. Thanks for your input, but help me out, what do you mean by "porpoising" I'm not familiar with that term.

Also, do you find yourself driving carefully with those 19's? I'm debating over those wheels and 18" GTC's. Jeff@evolution mentioned that the LE37T's are 1-piece forged making it stronger than the 2 or 3 piece GTC's which are forged outside and cast inside. That comment is making me lean more towards the 19" LE37T's. I don't care about the ride, I'd prefer the harsher ride like you. I only care about the vulnerability of 19's and I just don't want to be paranoid about going over railroad tracks, roads under construction, and an occassional pot hole. Have you had experience with these obstacles and survived? I want to have fun in my Z, I don't want to seem like I'm carrying a newborn in the middle of a football field!

I'd appreciate your input and btw nice pics, those wheels look NICE!!!!

 

Thanks!! I really do like the LE37Ts. I have not worried about hurting these wheels at all and have not had any problems with them. One nice thing about the Toyo T1-S tires is that they also play a part in protecting the wheel by having a reinforced sidewall and a lip that helps prevent curb rash. "Porpoising" is a fancy word for the bouncy feeling of the stock suspension and with the 17" wheels it is definately worse. Trackstars comments are true that a 19" wheel alone vs a 17" wheel will not give you handling improvements. The improvements in handling come from better tires and wider wheels and tires giving more surface area and more tread on the road. Overall weight is both affected by the wheel and the tire as different tires weigh in differently as well. The LE37Ts are only 19lbs each vs the stock 17s at around 23lbs each and the Toyo tires are also much lighter than the stock RE040s even though the Toyos are much wider. Overall I would "guess" around 8-10 lbs per wheel/tire combo less than stock going from 17" to 19" wheels, but there are 17" wheels out there as well that are even lighter and just as wide with many more tire selections. I just love the looks of the 19" wheels and when you spend that kind of money on new wheels/tires then you better realize what you really want the nicer wheels for. I occasionally drag race my car, but can easily use my stock 17" wheels for that if I wanted to.