What size rims/tires are better???

What size rims/tires are better???

I own a blue 2000 Corolla CE, with some 175/65/14 Michelin tires. I'm stuck in between 16 and 17 inch upgrades. Which should I get? I've been to cardomain.com and seen a lot of corolla's with 17's on them, they look nice. But what I also hear, is that some of their tires rub a lot with the brake calipers, and at times even damaged their fenders while going up a speed bump. Many websites sell 205/40/17 tires with the rims, is this a good size for putting 17's on? What about for 16's? Since many people like to race, they claim that bigger rims seem to slow the car down a bit, unless they use the lightweight ones. What should I do, any suggestions????

- Mike

It all depends are you looking for style or praticality
Cause if you want a smoother ride get 16's for style get 17's

I have a 205/40/17 on my 02 and I dont have any rubbing problems.
Do you want to lower your car

well, i know that 205/40/17 is prob the ONLY size tire that you can "fit" so to say without any rubbing issues- but usually, with 17" rims, this happens anyways- especially with stock springs and struts b/c of their bouncy behavior...when alot of people get in the car- almost every bump will result in some kinda scraping of the fender.. as far as brake calipers, not so sure about them scraping or if they even do that.. people that wanna race need some real lightweight 14" or 15" drag track wheels with some very sticky tires...

I am looking mostly for style, just to set it apart from regular corolla's, I would just want to get rims, muffler, tint, tail lights, new alarm, hood scoops,
and possibly a sound system. As far as for lowering, I would only do it on the 16's, but I'm not thinking about lowering my car anytime soon, if I even decide too.

I plan on lowering my car 1.75 inch in the front 1.5 in the rear, but thats because I'm sick and tired of my wheel gap.

If you do a drop and dont want to have any problems only do a 1.5 in drop.

Cause you can lower a car on 17's with no prob, unless you have bad roads

Well, I plan on going with 16"s myself with a plus 1 tire. Then doing a 1.7" front drop and 1.8" drop on the back. This way, I get a little bigger wheel and the tire retains the same size diameter as the factory tire, and droping it the 1.7/8 I can reduce the fender gap, get the lower profile, and still make it over speed bumbs and up moderate driveway inclines.

At least that's what I am thinking... Correct me if I'm wrong please.

Whether you have 15's, 16's, or 17's, or 18's it shouldn't matter.......because you buy a tire that matches your stock rolling diameter. The only thing you would have to worry about is the width, and don't see how 205's would be too wide.....so when you put you new tire/rim combo...against your old tire/rim combo they should be the same height.

The only time your wheels will rub your brake calipers is if they do not have the correct offset (I think ours is +42). Most good shops will make sure you get wheels with the proper off set so this is almost never an issue. I have 17's and they never rub anything (not even over big bumps), but if you have issues with this, there are a few really good posts with DIY fender rolling tips that should take care of your problem. If you are just going for looks, I would say the 17's. I used to have 16's and they looked too little (everyone was always telling me I needed to get 17') but either way, bigger wheels will look better than what the car comes with stock and I know 16" wheels and tires are always cheaper. If you want a cheesy way to see the difference from 16's to 17's, go to www.tires.com (discount tires website) and use there little car simulation thing to see what the wheels will look like on your car.