16"XRS wheels vs ?

16"XRS wheels vs ?

I'm too old to scrunch down into a sport coupe and then I get rear ended and totaled so I'm in a 06 Corolla XRS and loving it. It comes with 16" wheels and Michelin 195/55 v rated rubber. Total weight 38 lbs, per tirerack 20 lbs for tire so that leaves 18 lb. rim. Ride and cornering is great but I wonder about 17" package, mainly because of the cost/availablity in the stock size.
In the past I have been disappointed when trying to improve ride control/handling when changing wheels and Toyota has tuned this one very well already. I am most concerned with weight and offset, I have seen listings on offset between 35-43mm, I'm not sure how sensitive it is and what the optimum number is?
Most 17" tires weight 22-24 lbs so I would need to lose at least 4 lbs in the rim to stay even. Maybe more since the 17" package would move the weight away from the center, I assume this would increase the flywheel effect and hurt gas mileage, acceleration and braking. Any info?

i dont think ithe 17' tires would hurt any of the gas mileage,acceleration and braking.i had 18' rims on my old car and the mileage,acceleration and brakes felt the same.

As long as the bigger rim and tire match up with the same stock measurements as the stock wheel and tire, you'll be fine.

Use this tool to figure out the proper sizes you should get. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Going from a 16" to a 17" wheel will not change the performance that much. Granted you will probably be looking at a slightly different moment of inertia if you jumped up a size, but I doubt you can see any differences without a stopwatch. Acceleration is probably suffer a bit, but cornering should be pretty good with a thinner sidewall. Braking should be about the same, and there is a remote possibility that MPG could go up - depending if you commute is mostly highway, city, or mixed.

For the 9th gen Corolla chassis - I believe Toyota said :
Bolt pattern: 5x100
Offset: 35mm to 45 mm
Tires up to 640 x 215mm
Wheels up to 19" x 7.5"

Would work OK. Check out this tire calculator - you can play with offsets and sizes and see how they change with respect an OEM size. Not 100% perfect, but better than a shot in the dark. http://www.rims-n-tires.com/rt_specs.jsp Just watch that you do not get too extreme with offset, that can be pretty hard on the wheel bearings - as they do not take well to any increases in sideloading of the bearings.

Given that the tires themselves will be around 22-24lbs each, and your wheel has to be around 14lbs or so in a 17" size - that may be a pretty expensive wheel (think VOLK wheels). Not to mention that the tire itself will generally be more costly. Depending on the construction of the wheel you are looking at - you can enhance or reduce that "flywheel" effect by moving some weight around.

In comparision, you could opt for a 16" lightweight wheel - fit some better rubber on it and have at it.

that tire calculator is awesome!