Stock Rim Questions, Need Opinions Asap

[jumpmanmb87]

SO IM SERIOUS THIS TIME ABOUT BUYING A GTO, but have some questions, I priced out one with 18''s and now im second guessing. What rims are better, im afraid the 18"s are bad because the car will ride worse, easy to curb, and they are also shorter and not as wide as the 17"s. Any inputs as to which wheel size is the best?? I remember a thread on here a while back but I went through all 15 pages and cant find it. Help me out thanks!

[whiteboyslo]

well, here's the thing. i don't know how much the dealer charges for the 18s initially, but they are in HIGH demand. if you get the car with the 18s and don't like it, you could EASILY sell them to someone who has stock 17s for trade and make some $$$ off the deal.

Mike

[jumpmanmb87]

OK anyone else? kinda don't wanna wait around here

[Taz GTO]

I think Mike summed it up best.

I have 17s, but had 18s for a very short period of time, but ended up having to go back. I thought the ride on the 18s was better than my 17s. I would like to go back, but money is always the issue.

[tigeragogo]

Being that your are in Connecticut, you might want to consider that 18s have summer only tires stock.

[time2shine]

any idea what kind of money the 18s are bringing?

[tripower]

any idea what kind of money the 18s are bringing?

Look under the "Parts For Sale" section and eBay. Looks like between $900-$1200 for stock 18's. (Rims only) On the sticker they are a $495 option.

[judgeman6970]

(IMO)the 18's ride fine, and look awesome...go for them!!...and like the other guys said...u can always sell them for good $$$

[kyosho]

I have BOTH. I have OEM 17" for the winter and the OEM 18" for the summer. To me, the 18" wheels look ALLOT better, the 235/40/18 Bridgestones that came on them don't ride any worse, etc. Get the 18" stock wheels - I think they are the best looking wheels for the car hands down. In fact I'm planning on spending $400 to have the rear stock 18" wheels widened in order to fit 275/35/18 rubber on them. :thumbs:

[nathang]

Get the 18's.
The ride and curb and pothole durability are fine.

Besides, oddly enough, you'll be better off if you ever decide to go with custom wheels,
The 18's will sell, for as much as some of the custom wheels.

[RobertHammen]

Monaro suspension was designed for 18's. GMNA scaled it back to 17's for two reasons:

a) our roads are actually worse than most of urban Australia (rural/outback is another story ;-), and the ride quality is a little worse with the 18's.
b) the 18" wheels never went through GM qualification/the manufacturer couldn't ramp up production enough. This is why the 18" option didn't come around until '05 and wasn't available in volume until the latter half of '05 production.

The 18's are also summer-only tires and have a very low treadwear rating. They do not have any problems with strut rub (unless your suspension is hosed).

I have an '04 so I didn't have a choice, but I will say that I HATE cleaning the stock wheels. CV8-R's (see avatar) FTW!

--Robert

[BostonF4$]

I guess it's a matter of preference, I didn't notice a great difference in ride comfort between the two. But for a car w/ 400HP you may want to go with the 17's since they have wider rubber...even if it's only 10mm it's still more.

IMO the 17's look nicer, they have more depth and design to them. The 18's look like the wheels I would draw in colored pencils on the ferraris I would sketch as a kid lol

They're just...a...wheel. no design at all, 5 spoke flat face. I guess they're easier to clean but the 17's have that curved 3-d look and appear to have a little more thought put into them.

If you can get the 18's chromed by the dealer I'd go w/ that tho since they're probably easier to clean...

[Kanding]

If you plan on keeping the 17s on for some time, a potential drawback is possible strut-rub. It is correctable, but I haven't (yet) seen anyone with the stock 18s have this problem.