Hi guys,

I am looking for a set of summer rims for my IS, and have set my eyes on the forgestar f14. However, I already have a set of 18'' summer tires with about 80% of tread left. Is the 19 inch rims worth the extra $400 dollar plus another $1000 for 19 inch tires?

 

I dig the 19's vs 18's or 20's. Now if you can afford it then I'd say go for it. 1k for tires is steep but I'm assuming it's a good brand. Look around for better priced tires. I don't need a 200 dollar tire, but that's me. Others will laugh but it's ME spending the money, no else.

 

I personally wouldn't. Larger rims would cause your car to accelerate slower, but have higher top speed. There would be no need for larger tires for traction reasons, so it would be purely aesthetics. I am not a person who spends a lot to modify the aesthetics of a car unless there is some utility to it. I personally would save it for another car or some performance mods for your IS.

 

I also agree with darkdream. In addition, wheels are mostly for look while tires are for handling performance because ultimately it is what contact with the road and give you that Gforce during cornering. In general, larger wheels accelerate slower, increase unsprung weight, etc so I would prefer 18 inch wheels more than 19 ones. They both look quite good on our cars.

Bottom line is: Pick the wheels style and size and offset based on YOUR preference because it is very subjective depending on YOUR own view.
I would advice do NOT cheap out on tires because a crappy tires can affect handling performance significantly unless you don't care about handling performance at all.