Lot's of controversy on 18" vs. 20" wheels regarding their handling and ride comfort. I am looking at putting American Racing Rogue wheels on my '05 GT, and want to go as wide as will fit. AR makes the Rogues in 18x8.5 and 20x8.5/20x10. I'd like to go with the 20's, but don't have much input to help me decide. What's the consensus?
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I have 20s on my 06 gt. 20 x 10 rears and 20 x 8.5 fronts. 275/35 and 245/40 bfgs. Car rides a little stiffer, you feel bumps and cracks in the road more. Not uncomfortable, but not a real quality ride either. If you like the look of 20s, get em. The tire you choose makes a big difference in the ride quality. Also, the wider the tire, the more road imperfections you'll feel.
Pay a little attention to the load range of any tires that you might select. Not all will have the same load index as OE and you may have to adjust the inflation pressure slightly from what the door sticker lists. A slightly smaller tire (lower load index number) needs a little more inflation and will ride slightly harder as a result.
Generally, shorter sidewalls translate to a stiffer ride, particularly over sharp bumps such as you get with concrete pavement that's lifted at the seams or badly cracked. Short sidewalls also tend to quicken steering response, at least as long as you aren't trying to fit the widest possible tire on a given rim width (a separate and equally huge and contentious topic, BTW) IF you have the suspension to support it, short sidewalls may give you greater cornering grip, though you shouldn't be driving hard enough to find the difference unless you're at an autocross or out on a road course.
You'll find comments regarding the additional weight of larger size wheels and tires. You can pretty much ignore the "rotating mass" issue unless you're going to drive in some form of timed competition, where lighter = better and smaller diameter = better in almost every case.
What the extra mass does do is slow down suspension response over bumps, and you might feel this in more normal use (my guess here is that encountering stutter-bumps in a corner would be the most severe situation for this - a wheel that goes airborne won't come back to earth quite as quickly on the back side of the bump).
Thinking on it a bit, it's a little too bad that there isn't something like an 18 x 9.5 available, like there is through FRPP.
Wheels for "05 GT
