If you're into hard-core performance, you see wheels first as a performance upgrade and second, as an aesthetic improvement. So, like last year, we've taken care to weigh each wheel. We've also used a variety of background colors so you can easily peruse each category by size. It's simple. If you're looking for 16-inch and smaller wheels, search the wheels with a green background; 17s use a blue backround, 18s get a red background, 19s get orange and 20s and larger wheels are shown with purple.
Because most people looking to buy wheels are likely shopping with diameter as their primary objective, we organized the guide around that parameter. Most folks are also comparing price versus weight. The price part is up to you. Comparison shopping will go a long way in yielding the best price for the wheels you want. Weight however, we can handle. We've weighed each wheel on our trusty digital postal scale.
Just keep in mind that each wheel's listed weight is the exact weight of the particular wheel we tested, down to its width and offset-both factors that affect weight. Expect small variances from our numbers if either measurement is different for your application.
Fitment BasicsBefore you purchase aftermarket wheels there's information you need to know, such as diameter, offset (known as ET in the wheel industry) and backspacing. There are several ways to come by this information. The easiest is the Internet. Both The Tire Rack (tirerack.com) and Discount Tire Direct (discounttiredirect.com) offer Web sites with this information, plus both offer a massive selection of wheels. You can find information on importtuner.com as well. You can also take measurements from your stock wheels.
Just remember that without proper offset and backspacing, an otherwise perfectly drivable front-wheel-drive car can become a torque-steering monster and any change in offset can affect any car's straight-line tracking and braking.
Backspacing is simply the distance from a wheel's hub-mounting surface to an imaginary line across its diameter. Offset, which is usually referred to in millimeters, is the distance from the hub-mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel. In other words, a wheel's hub-mounting surface can be located either inside or outside of its centerline. If this surface is outside (toward the wheel's face) the centerline, then offset is positive. Positive offset is common to almost all front-drive applications. In fact, positive offset has become so common that the term positive is rarely used. Negative offset exists when a wheel's hub-mounting surface is inside the wheel's centerline.
Several other factors should be considered when purchasing wheels. Be sure to ask your retailer about the correct bolt pattern and whether your car requires hub-centric or lug-centric wheels as the use of hub centric rings may be necessary.
16 inch and smaller17 inch18 inch19 incH20 inch and larger