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[sayemthree]

which will weigh less? which will handle better? faster on the track?

[GregW / Oregon]

Originally Posted by sayemthree

which will weigh less? which will handle better? faster on the track?

Supposedly the 18s are cast and the 19s forged. Without weight specs we don't know how they compare, but the 19s are probably lighter and stronger than the 18s. Width of both is the same (8.5/9.5"). There is a better selection of track rubber in 18s, but in performance terms not much difference for the average DE participant. Oh, 18" rubber is a little less expensive.

[consolidated]

There are significantly fewer options in 19" R compound tires compared to 18". I'd also be very surprised if the 19" tire/wheel combo weighs less than it's 18" counterpart.

I track my Cayman S with 18" Nitto NT-01, and street the car with 19's and Bridgestones RE050 A-PP, the 18" are much more comfortable and don't surrender much precision at turn-in if any.

19" tires cost about 10% more than 18" in my experience, but some brands have a dramatic jump in price from 18's to 19's.

There is no reason to run 19" except for appearances, which is why I have them for the street.

[Epacy]

Originally Posted by GregW / Oregon

Supposedly the 18s are cast and the 19s forged. Without weight specs we don't know how they compare, but the 19s are probably lighter and stronger than the 18s. Width of both is the same (8.5/9.5"). There is a better selection of track rubber in 18s, but in performance terms not much difference for the average DE participant. Oh, 18" rubber is a little less expensive.

South has posted the specs and the 18s do weigh less.

[SS32]

Do you remember by how much?

[Minimization]

I think it is sad that BMW can not offer 19" forged wheels that weigh less than cast 18" wheels. Neuspeed makes forged 19 lb 19 x 8.5" wheels for Audi that run only $600 per wheel!!!


On another note- the 18" wheels that BMW offers on this M3 are pretty ugly in my opinion.

[Minimization]

Originally Posted by consolidated

There are significantly fewer options in 19" R compound tires compared to 18". I'd also be very surprised if the 19" tire/wheel combo weighs less than it's 18" counterpart.

I track my Cayman S with 18" Nitto NT-01, and street the car with 19's and Bridgestones RE050 A-PP, the 18" are much more comfortable and don't surrender much precision at turn-in if any.

19" tires cost about 10% more than 18" in my experience, but some brands have a dramatic jump in price from 18's to 19's.

There is no reason to run 19" except for appearances, which is why I have them for the street.

True, unless you need to clear 15" brakes. Also, every major sport car is running 19" these days. Not 20", not 18"...

Z06, 911, F430, M5/6, RS4, Gallardo

[e46e92love]

Tell me guys what you think of this: just get the M with the stock 18's and use them as your track wheels, then go out and spend the money you would have spent on the BMW 19's option on lightweight 19's that you can slap on her for around town.

[BMW E90]

Originally Posted by e46e92love

Tell me guys what you think of this: just get the M with the stock 18's and use them as your track wheels, then go out and spend the money you would have spent on the BMW 19's option on lightweight 19's that you can slap on her for around town.

Sounds good to me.

[Jinxter]

Originally Posted by e46e92love

Tell me guys what you think of this: just get the M with the stock 18's and use them as your track wheels, then go out and spend the money you would have spent on the BMW 19's option on lightweight 19's that you can slap on her for around town.

thats what I'm doing..

[consolidated]

Originally Posted by Minimization

True, unless you need to clear 15" brakes. Also, every major sport car is running 19" these days. Not 20", not 18"...

Z06, 911, F430, M5/6, RS4, Gallardo

It's just fashionable to see a lot of wheel diameter and little sidewall, open spokes and giant rotors with colorful calipers.

No 15" brakes on the M3 of course. If you go to any track day or production based race like a PCA event you'll see that the quick drivers are on 18" or smaller wheels with R tires and plenty of negative camber. Anything larger, like I said, is for looks, not for speed. Much like 15" rotors are as much a fashion statement as they are things that slow you down, just my opinion.

Heavier wheels take longer to spin up, larger wheels usually have a larger MOI.

If your interested in outright performance on the track you won't be on 19" much less 20" which are just redonkulous anyways.

One could even argue that 17" wheels might be quickest. Check out Grassroots Motorsports Feb. 2008 article. They compared 16,17 and 18 combos on a E90 325i on Tirerack's new test track. The 17" wheels were quickest, they gave up a little responsiveness to the 18" which had less responsive braking due to the extra weight and higher MOI. The 18" were on par with 16" lap times, and the 16" tires had less width and rubber on the ground.

On a street car, run whatever discomfort versus fashion sense you can take. I draw the line at 19" and coilovers.

[consolidated]

Originally Posted by Jinxter

thats what I'm doing..

same here

[sayemthree]

so the consesnus is 18's would have the best performance, unles they had some superlightwieght 19's.