Yeah, but 9 times out of 10....I've never seen a fast car with crappy wheels on it. For the most part, if you have enough money to make your car go fast, then by logic, most people would set aside a little bit of money to some really nice wheels to go with it. I don't think I've ever seen a Supra with 20in Spinners on it (not saying that it dosen't exist, just saying I've never seen one). Same goes for the reverse. A car that has some crappy rims on it, that make it look like poop, usually is slow too. This is the case atleast in my area. 15inch Spinner HUBCAPS on crappy Paseo's/Civics, with a big shopping cart wing on the back and a Huge APC sticker on the windshield, I don't think I will ever have to worry about loosing too.

Also to point out, that anyone that has good choice on performance upgrades, usually has enough style to pic out some decent wheels for their ride.

 

you get what you pay for........i have seen some cheap rims crack from hitting a small pot hole with decent size side wall tires. Bigger the size the more power you lose. the higher the weight the more power you lose, and the more unsprung weight you have on each corner causes lazy steering responce. The reason high horse power race cars use bigger wheels and tires is the it changes the cars gearing to go faster in top speed and the torque from their big 500 hp motors will take car of them down low . Japanese touring cars like the civic and stuff use the 15's and 16's because it keep the gearing low, weight low so it is easier to keep the revs higher through the gears to keep them in their power band. If you are on the street go for looks.

 

go to donald trump's wedding wearing flip flops.

 

Larger radius rims usually do not affect the radius of the tire - because you get lower profile tires to go on the larger rims, giving near to the same total tire radius as stock. So "lost power" would come from using wheels with tires that are too high profile, not just taller wheels.

Larger wheels usually weigh more, unless you start spending more and more money to get lighter and lighter wheels (forged, etc).

Larger wheels also put more of their mass away from the center of rotation, so even though you may have a 15" and a 17" rim that weigh the same, the 17" will have more rotational inertia, which translates to the wheels eating power because it takes more effort for the car to spin up the wheels under acceleration.

Race cars that run nice big 17-18" rims usually are doing that purely because it lets them put really big brakes on the car, or because a series mandates a particular rim specification. You can't put very effective brakes within a 13" rim for instance, unless you're using crazy stuff for your brakes like the F1 guys do. For serious racing use you will want to put the smallest radius and lightest rim on your car as possible because of the dramatic reduction in rotational inertia, which will help your acceleration.

That being said, who here is a crazy serious racer with their xA? Not me I have a Corvette Z06 for that. I am still being incredibly indecisive on my rim decision for my new xA because I can't decide if I want the lighter 16" wheels, or better looking 17" ones, or what style I want, or even just trying to decide what looks good with IIP. It's a good thing that I'm putting that decision off until after winter.

Just about any after market wheel will be better than the stock steelies (but beware, some a crap, heavy, weak, or bad looking). They are lighter, and they are wider - and wider allows for wider tires, which fill out the wheel wells better and give the car some desparately needed improved stick.

 

it's all about preferences is what it boils down to...tc owners might consider the performance aspect in picking the type of wheels they wanna run with and xb/xa owners might be on the aesthetic side of things(lets face it the box wasn't meant to go fast)

 

Blah blah blah. The question should never been asked. The question that should be asked and answeres this entire thread is "Why are rims so important to you?" If you are fine with the stock wheels (wich are nice stock wheels) then don't get another set. Why are they important to you?