Pros and cons going from 18" wheels to 20" wheels

[dwhip]

I would like to get some of my you all thoughts about going from 18's to 20's. What are the pros and cons?

[FloridaRT]

It will cost you money $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

LOL

J/K

Bob

[BThunderW]

I think other than looks, there are no pros for going to 20s. Lots of cons tho :)

Cheers,

Tom

[dwhip]

hey bthunderw can you name some of the cons. Almost everybody has aftermarket wheels of 20" or more on their lx's where i live. I want to stay stock with mine because as i'm getting older, i'm starting to value performance over looks, not that my car looks bad.

[BThunderW]

- More weight
- Slower acceleration (directly affects 1/4 times)
- More Expensive Rims
- More Expensive Tires

Cheers,

Tom

[dwhip]

-true
-true
-true
-kinda true(lol)

[FleshWound]

In my opinion
20">>>> looks great, better handling, but costs $$$ and has rougher ride more likely to get pothole damage with lower profile tires, lots of choices of after market wheels,
more likely to get them stolen.


18">>>> stock wheels (while they are indeed nice looking wheels, they are common)
tires are cheaper than 20" tires, slightly smoother ride, smaller diameter means faster speeds in the quarter mile, they don't corner as well as 20"

check your air pressure monthly TPMS will be standard on all new cars in 2009
stability control standard in 2011

cheers

[SteveRT]

I upgraded to 20" then ended up back with 18" for multiple reasons.
First 20" do handle better, and I think look better. Tire choice has more impact on ride quality going from 18-20 then the wheel size itself. I noticed very little difference in ride quality. What I did notice was with the heavier wheel/tire combo in a 20" it was very noticable in acceleration. This can be overcome by spending a lot of money for light weight wheels. There was also more steering effort and more feedback through the steering wheel. When I went back to stock 18" (powder coated them so there not that common) I felt like I had gotten rid of couple hundred pounds of weight. On the plus for stock size, I don't get noticed nearly as much, I never get challanged in stock form. On the minus, I dont get noticed nearly as much, I never get challanged any more... lol. What I do get is a nice sleeper look, which ultimately was what I ended up wanting. Of course that is unitl I turn on my Halo lights, those get noticed in a big way!!

[MattRobertson]

Usually this attitude is saved for the 22" crowd. Its not often you hear much of this said about 20's (actually I'd say 'never' rather than 'not often' for much of this).

- More weight

There is no reason to say a 20" wheel is more weight than an 18. Its too broad of a statement. The stock 18" wheel is 22 lbs, which is real light given its a forged, anodized alloy wheel. Thats a high bar to try and hop over. You won't have to go to 20" to find heavier wheels. PLENTY of 18's are WAY heavier. My Zinik Shoguns were beautiful... and Zinik told me they were 36 lbs each (which is why I got rid of them).

Likewise, 20" wheels can vary in weight depending on quality and construction. My forged Forge-Tec wheels are LIGHTER than the stock 18" RT wheels by 1/3 of a pound. My forged SRT wheels weigh one whole pound more, at 23 lbs. In neither case are we talking about a noticeable amount.

Its also not always true to say the tires are heavier. The Conti's that come on our cars weigh 27 lbs (32 if using the Conti-Seals). A Goodyear RSA 245/45/20 weighs 26 lbs, which is lighter than either 18" tire. A Goodyear F1 Supercar - a much better traction tire - in 245/45/20 is 29 lbs. Again... pretty much the same ballpark. Both tires are standard on SRT models.

- Slower acceleration (directly affects 1/4 times)Not true on an RT (and by extension, an SRT). We tested this a couple of years ago using 18", 20" and 22" wheels at - I believe - GIFO2. Either way, go to the MFO forum here at LXForums and read the dyno results and track times for yourself. The theories about unsprung weight didn't hold up against the amount of torque these hemi motors put out. They are simply too powerful to let a few pounds of unsprung weight slow them down. HOWEVER if you have a V6 the story is very different and 22's do indeed rob you of horsepower. This was tested by one of our vendors a couple of years ago.

- More Expensive RimsOnly if you're a poor shopper, or you just have to have Brand X that is horribly expensive. My SRT rims ran me $1000... including an almost new set of RSA tires still on them. My Forge-Tec wheels (triple-plated chromed alloy) -- which also included a new set of balanced, nitrogen-filled Toyo tires -- was a little over $2500. Take out the price of the tires on each set and you are looking at wheel prices that are a lot less than you were thinking.

- More Expensive TiresThere is some truth to this one. But again its a matter of knowing the market and how to buy. For example a lot of guys are buying and absolutely loving the Vredestein Sessantas, which I have seen as low as $130+shipping. That puts them smack in the ballpark of 18" tire prices. My next track tires are going to be General Exclaim UHP's, which sell for $110 each. However I have a set of Goodyear F1 Supercars and yes they ran me about $250 each. So if you want to spend a lot, you can... but you don't have to.

[BThunderW]

1. Lightweight 20"s are usually very expensive which is comparable to point 3.

2. I have both 18"s and 20"s. And I always ran faster at the strip in the 18's than the 20"s. I keep the 18"s for winter tires now. This is an R/T AWD Maggie.

3. Comparing apples to apples. The same rim in 18" vs 20", the 18" will be cheaper.

Cheers,

Tom

Usually this attitude is saved for the 22" crowd. Its not often you hear much of this said about 20's (actually I'd say 'never' rather than 'not often' for much of this).



There is no reason to say a 20" wheel is more weight than an 18. Its too broad of a statement. The stock 18" wheel is 22 lbs, which is real light given its a forged, anodized alloy wheel. Thats a high bar to try and hop over. You won't have to go to 20" to find heavier wheels. PLENTY of 18's are WAY heavier. My Zinik Shoguns were beautiful... and Zinik told me they were 36 lbs each (which is why I got rid of them).

Likewise, 20" wheels can vary in weight depending on quality and construction. My forged Forge-Tec wheels are LIGHTER than the stock 18" RT wheels by 1/3 of a pound. My forged SRT wheels weigh one whole pound more, at 23 lbs. In neither case are we talking about a noticeable amount.

Its also not always true to say the tires are heavier. The Conti's that come on our cars weigh 27 lbs (32 if using the Conti-Seals). A Goodyear RSA 245/45/20 weighs 26 lbs, which is lighter than either 18" tire. A Goodyear F1 Supercar - a much better traction tire - in 245/45/20 is 29 lbs. Again... pretty much the same ballpark. Both tires are standard on SRT models.

Not true on an RT (and by extension, an SRT). We tested this a couple of years ago using 18", 20" and 22" wheels at - I believe - GIFO2. Either way, go to the MFO forum here at LXForums and read the dyno results and track times for yourself. The theories about unsprung weight didn't hold up against the amount of torque these hemi motors put out. They are simply too powerful to let a few pounds of unsprung weight slow them down. HOWEVER if you have a V6 the story is very different and 22's do indeed rob you of horsepower. This was tested by one of our vendors a couple of years ago.

Only if you're a poor shopper, or you just have to have Brand X that is horribly expensive. My SRT rims ran me $1000... including an almost new set of RSA tires still on them. My Forge-Tec wheels (triple-plated chromed alloy) -- which also included a new set of balanced, nitrogen-filled Toyo tires -- was a little over $2500. Take out the price of the tires on each set and you are looking at wheel prices that are a lot less than you were thinking.

There is some truth to this one. But again its a matter of knowing the market and how to buy. For example a lot of guys are buying and absolutely loving the Vredestein Sessantas, which I have seen as low as $130+shipping. That puts them smack in the ballpark of 18" tire prices. My next track tires are going to be General Exclaim UHP's, which sell for $110 each. However I have a set of Goodyear F1 Supercars and yes they ran me about $250 each. So if you want to spend a lot, you can... but you don't have to.

[MattRobertson]

I'm just saying that you cannot make blanket statements about wheel size, especially with the wealth of experience out there that runs in a different direction.

SRT wheels, which usually come with tires, almost work out to be free as often as not. Mine were and my deal was not outrageously cheap.

I can have whatever wheels I want, and I only use whats best for performance. The 20" wheel is the ideal on these cars. 18" has too much sidewall for hard cornering (short sidewall tires are too short... I've looked) and too short of a list of high performance tires. 22" is too big and needs sidewalls that are too small for comfortable daily driving (you do lose comfort on a 35-aspect, but not on a 45-aspect). Also I'd also say the utter lack of reports of rim damage on a 20" wheel over the last 4 years says something about the 45-aspect ratio tire.

There's a reason why the 20" wheel is so popular on these cars, both with owners and the SRT engineers who put them on the car. The list of SRT owners who went to 18's for anything but a track-only drag radial is mighty short.

My track wheels are 255/35/20. You can see one in my sig. Thats a 2" shorter tire than stock. So add a gear reduction to the reasons to pick a 20.

Just don't buy stupid, and by all means read the experience of hundreds of others on the forum who have been using and talking about what works on their LX here for years.