need help with wheel size choice

hey all,

i'm stuck with a decision.... the eternal question.... 18s or 19s?

i've chosen my wheels... falken koblenz in gunmetal

i have purchased the eibach pro kit and will install it soon

so i'm down to wheel size, if i go the 18 route, i'll be pairing them with 255/45-18 tires all the way around, BF Goodrich KDW NT 2s for a total cost of $1350, these would be .5" smaller in overall diameter versus stock

if i go the 19 route, i'll be pairing them with 245/45-19 all the way around, bridgestone potenza s-03 pole position, for a total cost of $2100, these would be about 1.5" larger than stock diameter

so the 18s would be about the same size as stock and are 700 cheaper than the 19 option, but the 19s would fill up the wheel wells perfectly and be better looking overall

i can't decide if i'll regret not getting the 19s, or if 700 dollars is too much to spend for too small of a difference, 700 bucks could be a tuner, cai and custom tune

has anyone bought 18s and wished afterwards they would have spent the money? sorry this is such a novel, i'm just looking for different opinions because i keep going back and forth in my head

thanks guys

j

svtash said:

Either way I think it would look good. The way to really set it off and make it look good regardless of size would be to lower it. The lowering would take care of the wheel gap. If you are not looking to lower it then the 19's would be best to fill the gap.

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i am lowering it, i purchased the eibach pro kit, so it will be lower by about 1.3 inches

i'm attaching pictures of someone else's satin silver with 19" koblenz, same as i am getting, it has been lowered with the eibach pro kit as well

the front wheel is the size that i would have on my car, his back wheel is about 1.5" smaller, so the back would be filled a little better

i just can't decide if the money is worth it or not

the roads in my area are pretty bad

you would go with 18s because of ride quality? or aesthetics?

i'm leaning towards the 18s for price

because 18s or 19s.... i will have 45 profile tires, which means similar ride quality, correct? or is that a mistake?

j

sam_abuelsamid said:

You should definitely go no larger than 18". The larger the rim the greater the unsprung mass and the rotational inertia. That means your car will ride and handle a lot worse. Small increases in unsprung mass can have a dramatic effect the ability of the wheel to move up and down when you hit a bump or pothole. As a result your wheels wont follow the contour of the road and your big expensive tires wont be giving you any grip. Wheels with more rotational inertia want to keep rolling, like a flywheel. This means you will have longer stopping distances. Unless you are planning to install 15 or 16 inch brake rotors there is no functional reason to ever go over an 18" wheel on a mustang (or most cars for that matter). If you must have the aesthetic difference then be prepared to pay the price in longer stopping distances, worse ride and handling, and earlier wearout of suspension components.

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thank you all for the comments, you've been extremely helpful, i'm definately going for the 18s, i didn't think about the extra weight, and the thought of overspending on every tire change has me scared

i think it'll look good with the 18s, especially lowered, i'll post some pics whenever i get all the stuff on

thanks everyone