stupid question.....are 18 or 19's better?
i know its a personal preference but here are my thoughts... my pervious car (BMW) had 19" tires with sport suspension, the car hit hard on bumps and i live in NY, notorious for potholes. my carrera stocks are 18 and hit kinda hard too. do i risk the transition and move up to 19's? (love the look of 19's) or save the extra dough and spend less on 18's?
less risk of bent rims....my dilemma.

 

I'm on 19's cos they look better. However, without a doubt, 18's are better performers on a 996. It's an either-or situation, you can't have the best of both worlds. Looks, or performance. It's quite a clear distinction.

 

Performance. I have 19's but harsh. If you lower the car with 18's, and do the usual things, it looks as good, and all works better. No bouncee-bouncee and other "issues".

And guess what... I still can't see the wheels while driving!

 

The 19's will provide a rougher ride, since usually there is less rubber between the rim and the road with the lower profile tire.

 

the car's got to look good. call me shallow but i like 19's

 

NYC???

A good set of 18's without a doubt...

 

I changed from 18 to 19 and regret it. The car did not handle as well with the 19 so i lower the car with h&r springs. Now i have fender rubbing issues on the rear drivers side when i hit bumps going over 50 mph. I have a 2004 996 c4s with champion rg5 295/30 19 ps2 and it's rubbing my outer fender wall. I occasionally put back the stock rims and tires and it handles much better but dosent look as nice. Would like to trade for 18" rg5.

 

did you get your fenders rolled ?

personally the slightly bumpier ride and slight affect on handling is worth it to make the car look better, it looks so much better with 19's

 

19 looks much better.....ill be calling the ding doctor every month...lol

 

there shouldn't be any fender rubbing issues when switching from 18s to 19s unless wrong wheel offsets and/or tire widths are used. since you already have the wheel/tire set, try rolling the fenders. and if you really like the look of the 19s, switch to coilover. they ride better than h&r springs. my 996 with 19s and lower aspect ratio tires and coilovers ride better than my BMW with 18s and H&R springs.

 

yes, given the same brand & model of tires, the 18s will ride better than their 19 equivalents. but some tires ride better than others and some 19" tires with their lower aspect ratio can ride better than some 18" tires with higher aspect ratios.

 

I vote for 19s but with adjustable coilovers so you can tune the ride quality in accordance to your driving environment. However, aesthetically, you can't go wrong with 18s or 19s as long as you get the stance right. Consider getting coilovers first, fine tune the stance, and I'm sure you will be in less of a dilemma. Then if you feel that 18s still doesn't look right, then go with 19s. In my case, I got my 19 wheels first before the coilovers. Something wasn't right even with the 19s installed. It is only when I got my coilovers installed and got the stance that I wanted, that everything went into place.

 

I've had to get my two of my 19's repaired due to the unforgiving NYC streets...then again, if I had the 3pc 18's they would've bent too! yes, no rub on my 19s

 

19" are problematic on our urban streets. If you're running 3 piece or casts wheels you'll bend them. If your running forged 19" wheels you'll damage the side wall of the tires. If your going to track the car, only 18" tires are currently available. I have 3pc 19" wheels on a semi comp suspension and had to have them rebuilt after 6k miles. For durabilty (street or track) stick with 18", for the bling and show factor, go with 19" but only drive on good asphalt.

 

a little off topic....I'm riding on 18" now..there's about 1" of clearance from the tire to the fender..The front are rolled...if I get 19"..is there a concern for rubbing?