I drive 35 to 40K miles per year and would love to consider 19's or 20's for summer tires for the CDI. Are they too big?

 

19's are perfect, no problem.

 

Highway miles? 20's look better IMO, but 19's might be your best bet..

 

20's are definitely hot, I am just concerned that when I hit the first pothole of spring that my nice new rims are gonna have a fat ding in them. The other concern is ride quality, do they ride like a truck with 20's?

 

The ride quality on 20's isnt bad, but Im used to driving sports cars. I dont need it to ride like my Escalade did with stockers. As far as potholes, just be careful how you drive and 19 or 20 inchers are fine. Ive always had bigger wheels on my cars and never had a problem once.

 

I have 19's and the ride quality is not that bad. Having had 19's for four years now, you definitely have to be careful. I am pretty careful and avoid all pot-hole that I see, but sometimes they are not all avoidable for what ever reason. For the most part, hitting smaller pot-holes is not a problem.

Having said that, there are problems if you every get a flat. The side walls are so stiff on 30's and 35's that you cannot tell that you have a flat, certainly not right away unless you have a blowout. This is when I have bent my rims (twice now) on the inner lip. The inner lip is more prone to being bent, especially when the car is lowered, even after alignment.

My 2 cents.

 

I'd go for the 19s

 

How do you check if you have a tire low? Do you just check them often, when you put gas in the car? It's true the side walls are so short and stiff it must be tough to tell if your down on air.

 

Since your driving about 30-40K a year i wouldnt get any aftermarket rims because your going to spend more money on your tires. When you get to 20 inches its low profile tires and those will cost you. Also you always have to clean the rims to make them shine. Also you might get wheel bite in the front. I would just keep them with the original rims to keep it safe. Im guessing since you drive so much you have to park your car and you dont want to scuff your rims when you parrell park.

 

Tire costs are an issue. I have considered that. I thought about sticking with 18's to help minimize the cost. The CDI comes with 16's so 18's would be an improvement and tire costs are not terrible. The reason I am considering aftermarket wheels is because I would run the stock rims with winter tires and I don't want to switch tires on the same rim from winter to summer.

Basically it's an excuse to get a second set of rims!

 

Thats just wasting extra money,time, and space on rims and tires. Depending where you live, if you are in a snowy area. I would just keep them at the 16 with winter tire if you live in a snowy area.