PhilH said:

The ride is almost identical, with only a tiny bit more shock through the steering wheel on very sharp impacts. Seriously, other than that, the ride is the same.

The handling is also just about the same, with maybe some crisper turn in with the 18s due to the shorter sidewall. These days it's night and day on the handling, since the 17s have winter tires, but I did have summers on the 17s before.

The biggest difference for me is some extra tramlining on the highway with the 18s. It really takes just a little bit more concentration to keep the car pointed in the right direction on many even slightly rutted highways.

Of course, people always say the 18s weigh more, but the M72s are pretty light by 18" wheel standards. I weighed my front M72s with Pilot Sports at 46 lbs whereas my front M68s with Conti Sports were 45 lbs. Except for the extra weight at the edge of the wheel/tire that may slow acceleration by maybe 0.1 seconds, I don't see much problem here (except when I'm at an autocross...and my driving is the biggest thing holding me back there anyway).

Overall, I think the tradeoffs are worth it for the better looks of the 18s.

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