Thank you again for the input and I understand everything you guys are saying. I should go 9.5 but those prodrives are really tempting. I guess this would be another way for me to look at it. What would lap times be between 8.5 and 9.5 be running the same tires. I know there is a lot of other factors and feel of the tire changes.

 

Faster

 

Yup faster. Look in the r&c forum for a thread called wider wheels lower lap times or something like that. They tested the 17x9 vs 17x10 and the 10's were faster all things equal.

 

I understand that, that thread was very informative. I'm surprised that it was 1sec per inch, I thought it would have been less.

For argument sake would a 245 squared setup on 8.5in be "faster" than a 255 on 8.5.

I'm leaning more towards the wider wheels again now.

 

After sleeping on it, it doesn't make sense to spend good money to "upgrade" .5in. I will just go with 17x9.5 wheels and perhaps non-staggered 255 rs3 tires.

Advan rs or work meister s1r r-face wheels it is.

 

Changed my mind changed my first post.

17x8.5 prodrives or 17x10 forgestar f14

 

Appearance aside. 10" will provide you with a substantial performance upgrade (assuming your going for a 255 non stagger set up) You will get better grip, turn in response and overall better handling then on a 8.5" wheel.

 

Again this really comes down to what you value most. If you value lap times the forgestars will be the best. If you value looks then it is debatable. Make a list of your priorities here and pick which wheels most closely matches those.

 

We run a 225 Hoosier on a 9.5, it proved to be faster than on a 9 and more feedback as well. Wheel width matters.

 

that 225 was out of spec on a 9.5j. most tire models in 225 are max 8.5 as per most manufactures. a 245 on a 9.5j is the minimum for most people. doesn't surprise me it was faster on a 9j.


that being said OP, 10j and 9.5 take some work in easy to find offsets. fender roll and some lowering are a must if you are going for appearance at all.