[someasianguy]

Hello, I recently bought a 98 Neon R/T and will soon be buying some rims to replace the stock 14 inchers. This car will be a daily driver for me and I was plannig on getting some 17's along with a sweet evo kit. While researching rims I came accross this site which claims that 16's are the way to go because 17's make the ride too bumpy and choppy because there is no excess rubber to acount for the bumps (I might be wrong about that reason but it is in the ballpark of what he was trying to say). So should I suck it up, take this guys advice and spend my hard earned money on a dismall set of 16's or is what he was talking about just a myth and I should snap out of it and get the 17's we all love?

Thanks

 

[lrl1990]

If you want to go show go with 17's if you want to go more practical not have to worry about it go 16's.

 

[HoodooGuru]

U lose performance if u go bigger than 16s.
I have 15s on mine and i think it looks great. Performance is great too.
Still has a nice side wall to the tyre. Just lower the car a bit! lol
Thats what I did.

Seeya

 

[RadarLove]

Lighter (priority #1) and smaller (priority #2) are the keys to getting the most out of your wheels. If you're just going for show, then go for the 17's. The ride can't be any harsher than X-High's...

I wish they made decent 13" summer tires. Thankfully there is an abundance of 13" race rubber.

 

[EZ4U2CHere]

It's obviously show you are after with a daily driver. I would go with light weight 16's.

If it's performance you are after, a good compromise would be a light weight 15.

 

[TripleXJ]

It is kinda known that you should go no more than 2" over ya stock wheel hight if you are looking for performance. I to am only on 15" wheels and they look nice and ride great. When I race mine though I run a 13" wheel and noticed that even performs better than the 15" but would not go back to them on the street *l*

 

[Black01QC]

I have lowering springs and 17's on my 2000, so at least you should be able to see what the stance looks like. The car rides like a tank, but corners like it's on rails. It's a comprimise, I guess. I bought the car this way, but I like it fine.

 

[rice_eater]

If its going to be your daily driver I would HIGHLY recommend you go with 16" rims rather than 17's. What you heard is for the most part true... More than likely you will get real sick of the ride real fast with 17" rims. You said you have an R/T, you do know that that means you also have a VERY stiff suspension right? (stiffer than a highline or a sport) Stiff suspension plus oversized rim is going to equal... (wanna guess? lol) quite a harsh ride. Remember that the first gen neons were a lot lighter than the second gens. My 97 neon only weighs 2500lbs. WITH A HALF TANK OF GAS!! (my weight subtracted) It also has all the options your R/T probably does (moonroof, power everything, etc.) so I would guess your car weighs the same. 17's might work on a 2000 neon but are going to be quite bouncy on a 98. 16's will look really nice on your neon without having such a hard ride.

There are also little tricks to make a wheel look bigger than it actually is, when purchasing a wheel. Buying a wheel that has spokes extending all the way to the edge will look larger than a wheel with spokes that curl inward at the ends connecting back inside the wheel. If you do not understand what I mean go to tirerack.com and compare the Kazera KZ-V to, say, a Sport Edition Fox 5. The Fox 5 looks larger because the spokes extend all the way out to the edge of the wheel. (make sure you compare the same size of each). Its your choice, but I would recommend 16's.

 

[someasianguy]

16's it is. Thanks team.