I just picked up a fit and looking to put some wheels and considering going 18" / need some help /

 

I would highly recommend 18's, I have them on my car.

 

I'd recommend 17x7/45 mm offset with 195/40x17 tires on lowered chassis or 195/45x17 without lowering for minimum chance of interference and less reduction, if any, on mpg and acceleration yet top notch cornering with Dunlop Direzza AZ'stires.
We've not had a single set of 18's that didn't have rubbing problems to solve as well as much worse mpg and acceleration.

 

What width , offset and tires r u running. Looks nice. R u having prob like acceleration, gas etc?

 

They are 18x7.5 +42 with a 215 35 18

 

Those are some terrible tire sizes!!! With a 17 x 7 or 7.5, you should run a 205, 215, or 225/40/17

 

agreed at least 205 on a 7" rim.

 

back to the original topic lol......

i wouldn't recommend 18 inch wheels because of weight and mpg, as the others have stated above. but if you're stuck with 18" in your head, and you won't consider any smaller size, then i would do some research to see what you can afford that is the lightest as well. if you're choosing a stylish wheel for looks, there are many in 18's that weigh well over 20lbs (9 kilos), which will lead to horrible mileage for such a small car. the better way to go would be to find a lightweght, racier style wheel that you think looks good. and don't forget, if you strap on some good rubber to this car it can make you smile

 

195s on a 7 inch wheel will not kill performance, and do not look bad. I'll take the ability to go lower, lighter weight and better MPG. Grip is the area that needs to be improved the least compared to the rest of the chassis. But then, someone on here will say they are on coils and their car handles tons better on 205s/215s, when unknown to them, they've just ruined their suspension geometry and are having to compensate. More grip can been seen as always being better, or it can be seen as a part of a well balanced setup. To me, excessively wide tires on a lightweight street car are for putting power to the ground, not keeping the car on the road.

17s and 18s will effect the performance adversely, plain and simple. Looks very cool on the Fit though (compared to most cars due to the height, I think.)

For reference, here are 195/45s on 16x7. They do seem a tiny bit narrow compared to the wheel, but are by no means out of range. 7" = 178mm btw.

 

great info,,, thanks,,

 

So far u guys post gave me lot of info
I better do some more research... go with the bigger wheels - LOOKS - or follow the oem diameter and weight of the stocks.

 

Keep in mind although some 17 and 18" + wheels may be heavier there are quite a few wheels on the market in larger sizes and lightweight. For example the SSR Type F in 17x7.5 comes in at just 15.5lbs. Less weight than 15x6.5 Mugen NRs or spending any kind of money on wack Drag wheels or other even heavier 15s and 16s.

 

RE30s in 17x7 +47 weigh 6.6kg (14.5lbs), 16x6.5 +45 6.1kg (13.5) and 16x6 +41 5.7kg (12.5)

Looking at possibly going with the 17x7 as an everyday wheel and use the current 16x6.5 as a track wheel. The 17x7 only comes in the Formula Silver color though, so I would have it painted if I do end up with them.

 

While weight of wheels are important the weight of the tires is much more so. A weight of 20 lb at 24" diameter has much greater affect on perrformance and mpg than a wheel weighing 15 lb but much smaller 17" diameter. Its torque and the greater the weight farther from the hub matters. If you go with 17" i'd recommend 195/40 or 195/45x17 tires.

Yesterday though I came upon a poster wanting 215/35x18 tires and warned him about the weight being a detractor. Ha! turns out the tire weighs 20 lb typically and thats as light as stock. So his tire has the right diameter 23.9" which is properly better than 24.07" and has no torque penalty. Pretty good solution and look to see how he makes out.

 

Exactly: Everyone bandies about wheel weights when the more important figure, the tire weight at a given size and aspect ratio, is usually kept secret or generally unknown. Maybe more due to a lack of interest...

Seriously though lightweight wheels don't amount to much when the tires aren't. People can actually end up having heavier rolling stock than, well, stock.

 

You'll also find this is the rationale behind keeping a majority of the strength-providing mass in a lightweight wheel towards the center of the design, and not out towards the lip.

 

The only negative that I have noticed about using very light wheels (9.5 lbs) and tires (16lbs) is that I don't have the lateral traction that I would have with a softer compound tire that weighs more.... There seems to me that there is more interest in form opposed to function among the majority of people on this forum and there isn't anything wrong with owning an eye catching ride except that a lot of times it ends up being detrimental by taking away from the handling, braking, ride quality, acceleration, fuel mileage and service life of drive train, suspension, and braking components...To me that is a lot of things to consider that takes precedence over stance and filling up the wheel wells with over sized wheels and high dollar low aspect ratio tires..... Reducing rotating mass and unsprung weight is an upgrade that will make your car better, increasing the same might look good to people that don't know what the trade off is which is why I have taken the time to make this post..

 

I would like to see good post with specific information on total weight of tire/wheel relative to handling/braking/mpg compared to stock. A chart or graph would be informative.

 

Are you volunteering?

 

Push a couple of wheel tire combinations of the same diameter but different weight up a hill and you will have first hand knowledge of what 4 times that difference is doing to your car.