93-97 plus-sizing experience?

[Piloter]

So it's coming up on time to change the tires, as long as I'd be throwing money at tires I might as well upgrade the 14" wheels as well. I want to preserve a decent ride quality and attain handling upgrades as well, and bear in mind this is going to be something that'll be driven by a beefier-than-stock powerplant in the near future. I've been told by multiple sources that 16s are about the biggest feasible without eating into the ride. Problem is, there's a set of appealing 17s that are both lightweight and the same style that're on my car now, which I DO like. What's been people's experience with bigger wheels? Does the switch from a 185/65/14 to a 205/40/17 make the ride terrible? Would it still be terrible with the adjustable shocks, pro-kit springs, and the AE92 seats?

(BTW, the driver's-side AE92 seat is in. It took 5.5 hours of fabrication to get it there. Ouch.)

[REN69]

If you want "lightweight" 17s usually don't come to mind, 14s and 15s are the lightest.. even 16s are good enough. 17s on Corollas are more for show than go. What's the weight on those 17s?? my 15s are 10lbs each without tires one of the lightest wheels around.

Pics of the AE92 seats are a must now!

[Piloter]

Well, my budget's less than stellar for wheels and the like...no $1000+ each Volks or anything, let's get that out of the way. =) The Kousei 17s from Tire Rack are 14.1 lbs each and the Kazera 16s are 16.5. By lightweight I pretty much mean 'don't crush my acceleration with 3 inches of chrome plating and a rim deep enough to put dollar bills in lengthwise'.

Hah...pictures, eh? You got it.

Starting seat: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../car/seat1.jpg .
Original seat in the car: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../car/seat2.jpg .
New seat: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../car/seat3.jpg
New seat in car without cover, http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...eat3point5.jpg
New seat covered, http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1.../car/seat4.jpg . Freshly washed seat cover, had been on the old seat for years and on the new seat for about 5 minutes, it looks MUCH less wrinkly now.

End result: Looks the same. I can take corners 20+ mph faster, feel the road better but the harshness less, sit lower and thereby see more sky, and be vastly more comfortable. Yay!

[REN69]

The seats look nice on the car, I call for re-upholstering everything to match.

Boo for the seat covers!

[Ukrainian102]

Careful on the offset with the 205. I have 205 width tires and 38 offset on a 15x7 wheel and the rear fenders scraped the sidewalls when going over large bumps, so I had to file down the little metal part of the fender thats bent in. Since you're lowered it might be even worse. However there might be no problem with like a 40+ offset, don't know for sure though.

^Yeah and what he said about the seat covers.

[jcturbo]

I had 16" Enkei's on my 95 and I didn't mind the ride at all, even after I dropped it on H&R Sport springs with KYB GR2's