19" or 20" Wheels?

[kz]

And that's my point as well, things evolve. Most quality 20" aftermarket wheels are 5-10 pounds lighter than what comes from the factory. Also, the weight of the tire will have greater effect on performance. If you think the couple pound difference(sometimes less) between a 19" and 20" wheel will have any kind of noticeable impact on performance you're crazy.

They don't. But I think what Carlos is trying to say is that performance (unless performance means looking good on the street) is more dependent on the tires than wheels itself. And the good ones in 20" size don't really exist. I know it's the norm to get the expensive wheels and put shitty tires on them then post pics on forum, but that doesn't have a lot to do with performance IMO.

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[MRRDesignWheels]

They don't. But I think what Carlos is trying to say is that performance (unless performance means looking good on the street) is more dependent on the tires than wheels itself. And the good ones in 20" size don't really exist. I know it's the norm to get the expensive wheels and put shitty tires on them then post pics on forum, but that doesn't have a lot to do with performance IMO.

everyone is kind of right though, thats what i mean so many reasons exist but it all depends on the vehicle, make and model,
I mean i see 1990 mustang 5.0's running like 5.5 wide fronts yes 5.5 lol
but its what works for them for there car. wheels are definitely important.
but also the tire. in other words everything needs to be on point.
your not going to go grag race wit a 20x10 rear wheel with a 245/35/20 tire stretch in the back right?? youll need something in the 295 - 305/ 315 and so on, get the grip on the floor. but also please dont put on a 50 pound wheel :headbonk: is going to feel like a old BMW trying to catch speed on launching.

 

[Jeff's FRC]

They don't. But I think what Carlos is trying to say is that performance (unless performance means looking good on the street) is more dependent on the tires than wheels itself. And the good ones in 20" size don't really exist. I know it's the norm to get the expensive wheels and put shitty tires on them then post pics on forum, but that doesn't have a lot to do with performance IMO.

And I totally agree with the tire point. What constitutes a "performance" tire to you? Something with a treadwear 200 or less? A dedicated road race tire? Or just something that's ultra high performance summer and better?

There are PLENTY of "performance" tires in 20" sizes that will perform much better than factory tires. Now if you're talking about road race tires or tires with an ultra sticky compound that will only last a couple thousand miles of street use, yes, there are without a doubt more choices in the 19" sizes. How many guys on this board have you seen running those types of tires though? Most guys on this site that run 19's are running the same tires that the 20" guys are running...

 

[USPSALIMITED]

And that's my point as well, things evolve. Most quality 20" aftermarket wheels are 5-10 pounds lighter than what comes from the factory. Also, the weight of the tire will have greater effect on performance. If you think the couple pound difference(sometimes less) between a 19" and 20" wheel will have any kind of noticeable impact on performance you're crazy.

Depends on your threshold for "noticeable" .
There are very good reasons why racers must pay high dollars to minimize unsprung weight and rotating inertia in order to be competitive, with a larger diameter wheel the overall weight is not only increased but moved farther from the center of the wheel so negative effects to stopping and starting and turning are maximized. It is not analogous to cutting a few pounds off of the weight of the body of the car.

Not to say that the negative effects of a 20" wheel will be important to the average commuter, my only point was I never could figure out why people would pay more for worse performance on a performance car.

 

[bootyeater69]

20s

 

[Need4SpeedMotors]

I remember years ago people made the same arguments on how 19's were just for looks and 18's were the ticket for performance. Now it seems "engineers" like to argue that 19's are for performance and 20's just for looks...lol

Whenever someone's first words are "I'm an engineer" you can pretty much guarantee that the rest of the speech(and it will be a speech) is a bunch of know it all garbage:headbonk::lol:

LMAO

 

[Jeff's FRC]

Depends on your threshold for "noticeable" .
There are very good reasons why racers must pay high dollars to minimize unsprung weight and rotating inertia in order to be competitive, with a larger diameter wheel the overall weight is not only increased but moved farther from the center of the wheel so negative effects to stopping and starting and turning are maximized. It is not analogous to cutting a few pounds off of the weight of the body of the car.

Not to say that the negative effects of a 20" wheel will be important to the average commuter, my only point was I never could figure out why people would pay more for worse performance on a performance car.

The difference in performance between a 19 and 20 inch wheel(same brand and model) is extremely negligible though. You're only pushing the barrel out .5" and the tires should be the same diameter for both. It's really only a difference of a few pounds which is something that wouldn't even show an improvement on a performance test let alone feel of the car.

On a track car that runs a lightweight wheel under 20 lbs(usually 18") and a dedicated road race tire that's most times smaller in diameter and lighter than a street tire, I can definitely see a case being made, but on the street with a quality wheel/tire the difference between 19" and 20" will be slim to nothing.

Like I and others have mentioned before, the stock wheels on these cars are by no means light. Pretty much all of the quality 20" wheels I've seen come in 10 to 5 pounds LIGHTER than stock. How is this "paying more for worse performance "? Compared to stock you can have a better looking wheel that's lighter and most times will have a slightly wider tire for a bigger contact patch creating more traction. Sure sounds like better performance to me:amen:

 

[USPSALIMITED]

LMAO

All the way to the bank

 

[USPSALIMITED]

The difference in performance between a 19 and 20 inch wheel(same brand and model) is extremely negligible though. You're only pushing the barrel out .5" and the tires should be the same diameter for both. It's really only a difference of a few pounds which is something that wouldn't even show an improvement on a performance test let alone feel of the car.

On a track car that runs a lightweight wheel under 20 lbs(usually 18") and a dedicated road race tire that's most times smaller in diameter and lighter than a street tire, I can definitely see a case being made, but on the street with a quality wheel/tire the difference between 19" and 20" will be slim to nothing.

Like I and others have mentioned before, the stock wheels on these cars are by no means light. Pretty much all of the quality 20" wheels I've seen come in 10 to 5 pounds LIGHTER than stock. How is this "paying more for worse performance "? Compared to stock you can have a better looking wheel that's lighter and most times will have a slightly wider tire for a bigger contact patch creating more traction. Sure sounds like better performance to me:amen:

If you do a net search for something like "what difference does car wheel size make" you will see some measured differences in performance test data and discussions of better feel.
But I don't disagree with your post in any important aspect (although it is rather speechy and engineer like). Agreed you can buy nice 20 setups and the additional benefits of going 19 instead would not be important to most folks.

 

[Jeff's FRC]

All the way to the bank

The second best quality of most engineers is their modesty!

 

[Jeff's FRC]

If you do a net search for something like "what difference does car wheel size make" you will see some measured differences in performance test data and discussions of better feel.
But I don't disagree with your post in any important aspect (although it is rather speechy and engineer like). Agreed you can buy nice 20 setups and the additional benefits of going 19 instead would not be important to most folks.

I actually did some searching awhile back and found a few articles.

Sorry for the engineer speech I just don't want people to think they will ruin their cars performance if they go with a 20" wheel. A little research on wheel weight goes a long way in getting a good 20" wheel that won't hurt performance. Pretty much all the sponsors here sell high quality wheels that won't be heavier than stock.

 

[Twenty15]

Certain 19" tires are more expensive yes, but depending on the 20" tires their about the same price.

19s and or 20s both work great on the car, at the end of the day it is a personal choice. Now for 20s some members like the fact there is a wider selection, some like 19s because they want a more performance oriented wheel.

Paul, I got 19's from you 11's Forgestars in the rear. How much more will the stock vehicle handle? 12's

 

[Jeff's FRC]

Here's a test from 19" down to 15" on a ho hum VW. Takes 6lbs to even make a difference in acceleration and as they went smaller on the wheel diameter they went smaller on width as well to shed weight, which hurt handling. A car like a mustang that makes much more torque would be less affected in acceleration.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested

 

[Cascadia_302]

Well, l made the choice easy for myself by understanding what l wanted going in.
For a daily driver needing a wider tire (for all the obvious reasons being on 255/40-19's) and staying square l pretty much need to stay with 19's and run 285/35 tires due to the following two requirements l wanted to retain.
One is ride quality, keeping it as close to stock (not worse) and second is not to reduce my effective rear gear ratio anymore than the 3.31 l'm running.
So in doing the calculations, anything 19 with a "40" aspect ratio is out and a 20 with a "30-35" A/R is out.
A 285/35-19 has a 3.93" sidewall and a 26.9" dia vs. 4.02" and 27.0" stock, which is about as close to stock as l can get using 19" wheels. I could not come up with anything close using 20" wheels for a square set-up.

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