I stayed with 18's on my 02. Put a set of Forgeline wheels on and lowered the car. I was happy with the result but it did look like I could have gone with 19's. When it came time for new tires I was happy with my choice.

 

no, because i'm sure you'll still stick with stock overall diameter if you go 19s....and as long as you make sure your new wheel offsets are within limits.

 

just switched from ps2 18s to ps2 19s same profile 235/3019s and 295/3019s rear and the car handles exactly the same possibly a lighter tighter. no tire rub on 996 c4 hr coil overs all around. slight rubbing , rolling rear fender will cure this. notice that on wavey roads front steering wants to follow the ruts. overall i would recomend it for the looks will post pics soon

 

The 19" rims look so much better..I'm in and out of Brooklyn all the time with no issues at all. I have 3pc HRE's with the correct offset lowered the car with H&R springs and no rubbing at all even with 315/25/19 tires in the rear.

 

good article in the current Car & Driver - compares wheels/tires on a Jetta - 15", 16, 17 and 19" wheels.

Car was faster and had better gas mileage with the smaller wheels. But if it's all about looks, the 19" wheels looked best.