Stock vs. Plus Size Wheels

[skylinedrifter]

I am going to pick up a set of Konig Incidents. The only question is whether or not to keep the stock size (16"), or bump it up to 18" which is the largest available size for that wheel. Aesthetics aside, there are two main considerations: price and MPG.

Keeping the stock size means that I keep the same brand new tires, and end up spending $380 (wheels only) instead of $1000 (wheels and tires), plus the cost of future replacements. Then there is the question of how the car will handle a wider tire (.5 inches) in terms of MPG, the reason I purchased the car to begin with.

So... Thoughts?

 

[armycop]

There was a study done by Car and Driver that put different size rims on a VW Golf. They went from stock 15" to 19" and as the rim size got larger, acceleration suffered and the MPGs dropped with each larger wheel size.

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

Seems like 17" was a good balance of appearance and performance. Bigger rims are heavier, and more rotating weight has a pretty big effect on the car. It's up to you, I am probably going with a 16" Ace Cinco from discountiredirect.com and using the stock tires for a while, until I put snow tires on the stock rims.

These are the ones I am looking at, in the 16" size: