18" rims vs 20" rims...Why go smaller?

[CamaroSpike23]

Originally Posted by XanthosV6

Or you could realize that not everybody is in the same situation as yours. Right now I don't have anywhere near the money to buy a camaro - I'm putting everything I have into savings and still coming up far short. As far as wheels go, I love the look of the LS wheels and I should be able to trade in my stock 1LT rims to the dealer for a set at extremely little or no cost. I already found the set of tires that would fit the LS rims and work for what I want and the difference in section width between the tires for the 7.5 inch wheels and the tires I'd like to have for 8.5 inch wheels was only .4 inchs - not nearly enough to merit the cost of having them widened. At 9.7 inches the section width was plenty wide enough for me.

Like I said, some of us just want a camaro and have to cut costs where we can. One of those places is by NOT putting money aside or creating an expenditure for rims. Unless you've got 500 bucks you're willing to give me, how about you let your car be your car and my car be my car.
- Xanthos

Trust me, my financial situation is nothing to envy.... there's a reason my 94Z is sitting in the parking lot at work with a busted trans for the last 4 months. lol

but what my main point is, is that instead of immediately trading up on your wheels when you are having difficulty affording the car to start, WAIT for a little bit. look around, have patience. trust me, once people get their hands on these cars, you'll be able to find the wheels you want from other people for less than what you'll pay at the dealer. sure they might have 2-3000 miles on them, but its better than going broke on them. talk to ChevyBois or some of the other members that are going to be swapping to 24's and what not and see if they'll cut you a deal for their wheels when they throw the bling on.

I know you've seen pictures of my car, but have you ever looked closely at them? ever notice why 90% of the shots are from one angle only? my paint is stripping faster than zebra's mom at a frat party. yeah, I got lucky with my wheels when I bought them. but I had also just spent $400 on 17" Trans Am wheels 2 months prior and dented the crap out of them when a drunk driver swerved into my lane. and to boot on top of that, both the rear tires had a nail in them. then a month after I had stuck a tire plug in both tires, and been driving on them for a little while, I sliced the living crap out of the rears driving my car out at the shipping yards for the 4th of July to shoot fireworks. ~$600.00 later, im broke but have brand new BFG's on the rears.
then I decided to lower my car and drive the 2 hrs each way to Myrtle beach for F-body beach week 2 weeks after I replaced the rears (without an alignment) and had to replace the fronts.... ~$400.00 later, ive got a set of Khumo's on the front. trust me, my wheels/tires are the most money ive spent on my car. ive got a lot of used parts on my car, ive got a lot of cheap parts on my car. but ive also been on Camaro forums for the last half decade too, so ive been able to talk to people and score deals when they part their cars out or go another way with a project.
I know how to take a picture of my car to make it look good, but that doesnt mean its cosmetically in shape more than a well polished turd. she's stupid fast (save for the busted trans) but she's butt sucking ugly.

but I like it that way....lol


but enough of my rant. you keep saying that you are having to cut costs where you can..... just to afford the car. Id rather you worry more about getting the car moreso than what you are going to do to it if you get it. and i know from the way you've spoken on here that you are adamant about getting this car and that you'll be going V-6. go ask Kyle2k or Dragon or Tag. a v-6 for me is/was my plan until dragon had to go take those damn Indy pics. I will have the V-8. if it takes me a couple years, so be it. right now, the soonest I will be able to afford one is early 2011. Just because I have to buy a pickup truck before anything else (gotta haul the 94Z around when she's broken....lol) then theres the wedding... and fixing the Z... and getting my fiance a new car...... then.................. ill look at getting my 5th gen. regardless of my situation... I hope you can get either a great deal on the wheels you want or can sustain your urges for them long enough untill you've gotten to a point where you arent so hard pressed to get them.

damn, there I go posting a page long post....

[MaxLegroom]

I understand where both you and Xanthos are coming from. I'd do well to sell the Prius and get something with no payments in order to clear the wreckage of my debts. Due to that, I plan on one of two dates to buy the new Camaro V6 I want. The first is 12/28/09, as for some reason, half the cars I owned I seem to have bought on three days after Christmas. The other would be 2/3/10, to buy myself the car as a birthday gift, like I did buying the Sebring years ago.

I intend to stick to whatever wheels come on the car I buy for a while, even if it's the steelies.

[CamaroSpike23]

Originally Posted by MaxLegroom

I understand where both you and Xanthos are coming from. I'd do well to sell the Prius and get something with no payments in order to clear the wreckage of my debts. Due to that, I plan on one of two dates to buy the new Camaro V6 I want. The first is 12/28/09, as for some reason, half the cars I owned I seem to have bought on three days after Christmas. The other would be 2/3/10, to buy myself the car as a birthday gift, like I did buying the Sebring years ago.

I intend to stick to whatever wheels come on the car I buy for a while, even if it's the steelies.

prius.....
sebring...

sell them both and get the camaro.

[StarkyLuv]

20's LOOK better. If you're not going to be pushing the car hard (drag/track racing) get twenties.

18's are for racing. And they get a little better gas mileage.

I always get 20's. Nothing bigger than that though.

[TheStig]

Originally Posted by camaropete

Edog, I think for those people just sticking with red light racing against Mustangs and the like, it won't make that big of a difference (especially with the V8).

Yes because V8s are magic and eliminate unsprung weight.

The fact is, the larger and heavier the wheel, the worse EVERY single part of your car's performance will be. The general rule of thumb is 1lb of unsprung weight(ie wheels, tires, rotors, etc) is equal to 10lbs of sprung weight(rest of the car). 10lbs of sprung weight is equal to -1HP(plus handling detriments, so you can conclude that every additional 1lb you add at the wheels will be 1 less HP from your engine, as well as trashing handling and braking.