alright alright i have looked/asked around and every one has a different opinion when it comes to this topic. when choosing a rim what would u choose and why? how much do you really loose when you go with 18"? what difference would it make in the 1/4mile?

 

I used to ride on 17" wheels. IT SUCKED. Felt noticeably slower (never ran the track with the 17"s), and gas mileage wasn't all that great either. And since I had not lowered the car--cornering was out of the question.

Back to 15" stock wheels. I dig the sleeper look.

 

I had 17" on my 92 si/4WS and I liked it over stock. They were a little lighter than stock and would have made the car look better if it was lowered a little.

18" might be too big. You would probably have to ride on some 35s and you would have to drive slow and carefully

 

smaller wheel pro's:
better ride
faster
cheaper tires
better selection of hi-perf tires>>better handling
cheaper to replace
less issues with rubbing
less strain on wheel bearings
lighter

cons:
some people don't like wheels that aren't huge.

18" pros:
"looks better"

18" cons:
more expensive
heavier
added radius increases moment of inertia exponentially
tires more expensive, less choices
tires lower profile, less protection for rims against potholes
performance decrease
more expensive tires
etc etc.

 

I have 18s and I love the way they look, but after 3 years I would rather
have 17s. First off, the rear bumper has to be shaved in the wheel well so the
tires wont scrape(225/40). If you are dropped on 17s you cant really tell exactly what size they are anyway IMO. I have replaced 2 rims due to them bending when
hitting potholes on the street/Interstate/etc and with 17s you can run thicker tires. I run Khumos and they are alright, but they seem to get random bubbles in the sidewalls(Free replacement at Discount Tire). I had to get coilovers rather than just springs because I could'nt really see how they would fit with more than 1'' drop. So IMO dont go bigger than 17.

 

blah i had 17's now im going back down to 15's. i hate the big looks

 

17's. If it were up to me, I'd go 16s, though

 

still undecided.....

yea see thing is that im starting to understand is that the prelude will never be a little light *** civic or integra, instead it looks 10x better but some say its a little heavy... my reasoning behind the 18's is they do look 10 times better(in my opinion) but they do "slow you down." this is where i cant make up my mind because u can only really go so fast u know? like there is still a speed limit and cops will pull you over faster then you can think(u all know that it is impossible for a 20year old with a decent car to get out of a ticket). one thing for sure though i don think 18's look to big if you ask me, they look gooood. im looking right now at some Tenzo R mean-6. they are pretty dam nice and the car is black so they would look good. any1 have any complaints about tenoz? should i watch out for something? here they are----->

http://www.tenzoracingsports.c....html

one thing though is all you are making me second guess my decision abou these 18" because it looks like all of you have sworn aginst them lol... i guess i am going to have to lean for my self

 

If your looking for performance factor in your honda...neither. If your more concerned with cosmetic appeal...either will do, i find 18's to be a little too much most times, unless your car is just a show car...

But as far as performance wise, 16" at biggest...period.

 

I also prefer 16's. I guess all depends on what YOU as a the driver wants.

 

but like really how much will 18" slow the car down? like will it really make that HUGE of a difference or will it just be small?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hypnosisracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But as far as performance wise, 16" at biggest...period.</TD></TR></TABLE>amen.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 01blacklude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">but like really how much will 18" slow the car down? like will it really make that HUGE of a difference or will it just be small?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, it will make a huge difference. Even if the wheel/rim is of a light/forged material, it has a large moment of inertia. It will slow down the car quite noticably. However, since you're debating between a 17" and a 18" inch, the difference between them isn't much.

16" inch is where the happy medium is between being lightweight and having a small moment of inertia.

The issue of how good it looks depends entirely on you. If you want to go with a 17" or 18", you might as well go with the 18" since it will fill the well area better. If you want something faster, don't go with either. Get a 15/16" setup.

 

hah dam i was looking at the prelude pictures thread and theres some nice ludes in there.. i just noticed though MOST of them are on 17/16" not that many 18".... oh well i guess im just gona be different . you can only go so fast and the 18's look so dam good so thats the way to go! .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 01blacklude &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hah dam i was looking at the prelude pictures thread and theres some nice ludes in there.. i just noticed though MOST of them are on 17/16" not that many 18".... oh well i guess im just gona be different . you can only go so fast and the 18's look so dam good so thats the way to go! .</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ay man, I support you on that. Stand out with your own style. But next time, dont bother asking other people their opinions if you're gonna go ahead and do it your way anyway. Make like Nike and JUST DO IT.

 

I saw this topic and i'm sort of on the same boat. i can't decide if i should get 17s or 18s. Not because of performance, but only because of looks. Actually, I'd prefer 17s on my '00 civic because I don't want to worry about fitment issues or be extremely paranoid for any potholes on the road. But the wheels I'm looking at have a polished lip. And with 17s, the rim (excluding the lip) would be smaller and the entire wheel would look like 16s even though the diameter is 17 inches. This is why I'm thinking about going with 18's so that the wheels would look as big as 17s due to having a polished lip. This is just something to think about because I think the tenzo mean 6's has a polished lip as well. But imo, the mean 6's don't look that bad in 17's. Some guy around my area has them and they looked alright.

 

yea truth i never thought of that... but i still think im going with the 18"(just to be different) and you cant argue that they would look way better then 15/16 you know... i have some 15" for my winter tries so i want them to be quite a bit bigger... i saw the mean-6's in person last weekend at the auto show and they are so nice hah... that new ultra black color will look good becuase my lude is black.. big rims in my opinion do look better as long as they arnt 2 big.. if i was going to go turbo and all that i prolly would go like 16" and go for the sleeper look but im staying N/A... im prolly gona buy the rims i/h/e hondata in like 2 months when the snow goes away so ill post some pics when i get it all done