[Vobomei]

me friends civic he had stock 15" and he bought 16" enkies sp? and the ride was so bad compared that he sold them and bought 15" stock honda alloys. the handleing was ALOt better but the ride was terrible, in all fairness thothe tires were z rated and were hard as a rock. so no its not 90% suspension 10% wheels tires cause you can dramaticay change the quality of the ride just by changing the tires

Then he must have had something wrong with the car... Or just bad tyres...
Or wrong type of tyres for the car...


There really is no noticeable difference in the ride between 15" and 16"


I have / have had 14,15,16,17 and 18" rims on my cars... I think I know what I'm talking about...

[gomosopions]

You will kill the ride with 18" and will most likely need to do other modifications along with lowering the car. Without lowering the car you will be left with the moster truck look.

I'd go for 17" wheels on that car since it was originally made to run with 14" and 15" stock wheels. A good rule is that you can safely +2 almost any car from its base stock wheel. I'm pretty sure the sport spec Focus has 16" alloys and the SRT has 17".

Low profile tires improve handling (mainly skid and cornering speed) and grip becuase there is less sidewall flex but you lose ride comfort as there isn't as much rubber to absorb bumps. After 5 years on low profiles I feel like any car with standard tires is going to go off the road at high speed. I really can sense the floating sensation.

Changing tires between brands will have way more of an impact than chaging wheels regardless of the size.

[Ivanaishere]

My head is saying go with 17's really, cheaper to buy, cheaper to get tyres for in the future.

From my days on FFOC forum 17's were said to be the best for handling and 18's were a bit dodgey over bumps. Also I think the overall circumpherence or whatever is the same as the stock wheels so it doesnt slow the car down, or something.

Might just go with 17's

[Sertvfdnhgjk]

Usually I'd say go woth the 17's but the 18's look a damn site better.

Who cares about speed and handling? You bought a small capacity ford.
You can always sell the wheels on when you're done as long as you keep the originals.

Everyone told me to not put 17's on a 306, I did it anyway, had to do alot of suspension work something like a grands worth but it outhandled pretty much everything.

http://www.lxg.f2s.com/306/3065.jpg