Why go with 19" instead of 20" aftermarket wheels? I see this a lot

[Eric SS]

I'm going to start wheel shopping shortly and I see a lot of people going with 19" wheels instead of 20" wheels when their car originally came with 20's. What is the rational for this for some of you that have done it? Weight? Cost? Availability? Looks? Tire choice? I especially see this with the TE37's that are available in 20" but almost everyone goes with 19's. Thank you.

[TopJimmy]

Many of us live in areas with crappy roads, and the extra sidewall thickness keeps my tooth fillings from falling out. Driving in downtown Philadelphia on 20s can be very jarring. Riding on 19s are livable, and 18s would be nicer. If you were in NY then you'd want 18s all the time.

[Indvdl M]

1. Comfort
2. Extra durability with taller sidewalls
3. Cheaper tires
4. A bit of added flexibility with tire sizing, mostly going wider
I have 666m's now and would happily go down to 18's if I could find non-comp tires in the sizes I want to run. I will probably end up with 19x9.5/11.
Good luck with your hunt.

[Theruleslawyer]

20" are harsh on northern roads.
19" has better tire size availability, especially in competition tires.

I would never buy 20" in Chicago.

[kwikshift]

Agree w/everyone’s comments. Only thing I would add is aesthetics, imo 19’s compliment the F8x generation the best.

[pikkagtr]

As a performance car , I filter by weight then select the best looking one from that bunch
There is a very noticeable difference between a 20lb 19x10.5 TE37SL and the 26.5lb 20x10 style 666M wheel
6.5lbs of unsprung weight per corner is significant

[MineralWhiteF80]

things to add:

Brake size: Some wheels don't fit the gold caliper, carbon ceramic brake option, so you would be forced to go with a 20" TE37 if you have the CCB option brakes.

As for the TE37 specific discussion: there many versions and sizes of the TE37 wheel in 18, 19, and 20" offerings and most aren't the best idea when installing on the F8x chassis.

Most TE37 wheel sizes offered in 5x120 bolt pattern are not ideal for the F80/F82 chassis, as most of the Rays/Volk development was done for the E92 chassis that allows for a lower offset wheel in the 10, 10.5, and 11 inch wide offerings. That leaves you very few tire widths to choose from while not rubbing or having to add lots of negative camber. Most people want to get wider tires than OEM when installing aftermarket wheels, but with most of the TE37 offerings, you are forced to stay with OEM sizes to get them to fit (275 or 285mm rear). Widest TE37 wheel I see that works within reason is the 11" wide +37mm offset that holds a 295/30 tire, another option is the 10.5" +35 offset which can fit a 305 wide tire.

The TE37 spoke and lip styles look bigger or smaller on the car when comparing the original TE37 design vs. Ultra style vs. M-spec vs. Super Lap (SL) vs. whatever other variations. I think a 20" TE37 defeats the purpose of a super light, forged race wheel, but an 18" TE37 looks extremely tiny on an F8x chassis and width/offset options limit you to a 285mm wide tire, so for me the 19" F8x specific offset TE37SL is what I ended up buying. Looking at pictures online versus in person makes quite the difference in how big/small they look on the car.

19" TE37SL on my car looks a little smaller than the factory 19" 437M wheels

[EezyBeezy]

19's is the best of both worlds, practically & aesthetics.

[Eric SS]

Originally Posted by MineralWhiteF80

things to add:

Brake size: Some wheels don't fit the gold caliper, carbon ceramic brake option, so you would be forced to go with a 20" TE37 if you have the CCB option brakes.

As for the TE37 specific discussion: there many versions and sizes of the TE37 wheel in 18, 19, and 20" offerings and most aren't the best idea when installing on the F8x chassis.

Most TE37 wheel sizes offered in 5x120 bolt pattern are not ideal for the F80/F82 chassis, as most of the Rays/Volk development was done for the E92 chassis that allows for a lower offset wheel in the 10, 10.5, and 11 inch wide offerings. That leaves you very few tire widths to choose from while not rubbing or having to add lots of negative camber. Most people want to get wider tires than OEM when installing aftermarket wheels, but with most of the TE37 offerings, you are forced to stay with OEM sizes to get them to fit (275 or 285mm rear). Widest TE37 wheel I see that works within reason is the 11" wide +37mm offset that holds a 295/30 tire, another option is the 10.5" +35 offset which can fit a 305 wide tire.

The TE37 spoke and lip styles look bigger or smaller on the car when comparing the original TE37 design vs. Ultra style vs. M-spec vs. Super Lap (SL) vs. whatever other variations. I think a 20" TE37 defeats the purpose of a super light, forged race wheel, but an 18" TE37 looks extremely tiny on an F8x chassis and width/offset options limit you to a 285mm wide tire, so for me the 19" F8x specific offset TE37SL is what I ended up buying. Looking at pictures online versus in person makes quite the difference in how big/small they look on the car.

19" TE37SL on my car looks a little smaller than the factory 19" 437M wheels

I do think that 19" TE's look better than the 20's that came on the car. I appreciate the feedback.

[bigj505]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Many of us live in areas with crappy roads, and the extra sidewall thickness keeps my tooth fillings from falling out. Driving in downtown Philadelphia on 20s can be very jarring. Riding on 19s are livable, and 18s would be nicer. If you were in NY then you'd want 18s all the time.

Bruh…. I'm never driving my car to Philly again…. I went up there about 30 min north of the stadium and I swear the freeway had pot holes and uneven roads. I thought I was gonna lose my whole front bumper

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by Eric SS

I'm going to start wheel shopping shortly and I see a lot of people going with 19" wheels instead of 20" wheels when their car originally came with 20's. What is the rational for this for some of you that have done it? Weight? Cost? Availability? Looks? Tire choice? I especially see this with the TE37's that are available in 20" but almost everyone goes with 19's. Thank you.

20" Ride rough, there's just less sidewall. This can also lead to bending the rim if you live in an area with terrible roads (I think this is basically if you live in the united states LOL).

Also the selection of 20" tires is less than 19" along with 20" costing more. Weight is another one for 20" rims.

[kamilbaran]

Originally Posted by Theruleslawyer

20" are harsh on northern roads.
19" has better tire size availability, especially in competition tires.

I would never buy 20" in Chicago.

When I was DDing my m3 w the 666m wheels Chicago was the scariest place to drive just from the crappy roads, and the highways now with all the construction would be a true nightmare.

[hellokitty]

19" because more side wall, less unsparing weight, more comfortable overall. It's definitely noticeable once I dropped down to 19"

[x.shell]

I waffle back and forth between 19" and 20". I have had many sets of 19", 20", and even 19/20". I find that tires dictate my wheel decision more than the other way around. For this reason alone, I probably prefer 19" over 20". I hate that the only real choice you have on the typical 20" set on the F80 is the Michelin PS4S.