Need help choosing wheels.

[levik]

Hello TN. About time I register. Well, its that time of year where I want to buy some wheels for my TCH. It's a 2007.

I drove around town looking for a deal and I came across a few. This shop will give me 18's with 225-45 tires or 20's with 225-35 tires for the same price.

These are the 20's



These are the 18's
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and as you can see my car is white. What are your thoughts... I've never driven a car with 20's before. Any input would be helpful.

[sg1717]

I have had both 18's and 20's, and they are both in the harsh ride zone. But if you want more comfort go with the 18's. The black looks better imho.

[Frodo65]

As you go for the 'fashion statement', make sure you realize the functional consequences:

The heavier the wheel, the more sluggish the car will be. The TCH isn't exactly a rocket - and the extra weight will make it seem even more so. Ditto on braking - the responsiveness of brakes will be worse.
The 'performance oriented' tires typically wrapped around the big rims are notably worse on rolling resistance. With the TCH you will notice up to 5 MPG drop going from the stock low rolling resistance tires.

The C&D article puts numbers to the wheel upsizing. Again - depends on your priorities. I've never been of the 'better to look good than to feel good' mindset, so upsized wheels never held appeal - especially on a car like the TCH. Given the Golf in the article weighs roughly the same as the TCH (OK, so it's a couple of hundred # lighter), the figures should be close for the TCH.