Time for a POLL: 15" or 16" wheels..

[spanke311]

Buying wheels and I'm quite curious: Poll: 15" or 16" wheels.. what's your choice?

[PhatRoyale]

16" with 205/45/16 tires.

[rapolonio]

Depends on what you are looking for. If your going for comfort, then you want to buy the 15in wheels. As you go up the scale, you will lose comfort but gain handling.

[REN69]

Actually 15s would be better for both comfort and performance... as they're lighter than the bigger wheels are. 8th gens came with 14s off the factory, so you could go to a nice lightweight 15inch package with 195/55-15 tires OR 205/50-15 tires, just watch and make sure you get the proper offset with the wheels.

I see an 8th gen in my area with 16inch TSW's and it looks hawt! 16s lose a lot of the comfort though but look great and handle great, anything after 16s is just for looks.

[Keolaaina]

I have 16's but I think I'd go with 15's. If you don't get a crazy offset, then you'd have less rubbing issues if you're goin for a drop.

[hokie_sti]

Originally Posted by PhatRoyale

16" with 205/45/16 tires.

2nd that.

[01loadedLE]

I think 16's on a corolla are best. They look a little better than 15's, but 15's look a lot better than 14's. My 14's look good for what they are, a cheap upgrade over OEM but I would have bought 15's if I'd had the money. New wheels and tires from tirerack for just under $500 in my case.

[fishexpo101]

What suspension are you going to run? What are your plans for the car? You want "looks" or "performance" or something in between? What's your budget?

If you are more or less stock, not lowered, and want to keep the OEM like ride and fuel economy but want better traction/tires. Stick with a 15" wheel.

If you plan on lowering the car, not too concerned about acceleration/fuel economy, willing to trade some ride quality for a wider/lower profile performance tire. Then go with the 16" wheel.

Running 16" wheels or larger on a stock car - will make it look like a 4x4. Will look "odd". I've run 16" before - with a 38mm offset and rollin the rear fenders, they looked pretty sharp, but dealing with a couple of bent wheels and degraded ride quality - only went so far in my book. Now I'm back to 14" wheels with an upsized to a 195/60R14 tire compared to OM. Haven't traded much in terms of overall handling and traction, when compared to 16" wheels and tires - saved about 10lbs per corner in unsprung weight, so performance is a little better + I don't have to worry about every potential road hazard I come across.

[whydontyouchoos]

+1 on 16s