Anyone able to give me an opinion on ride comfort 19's v.s. 18's? I have 19 Turbo II wheels on my car now and they are ok. It isn't my DD but I have found on long road trips the 19's with P-zeros are a bit loud and rough. It isn't god awful but it isn't exactly smooth either.

I was toying with the idea of buying a set of 18's with tires to keep for longer road trips and maybe some occasional track use if I ever get around to it.

Any suggestions or thoughts on doing this?

 

Any change will be very minimal IMO, you are driving a sports car and a rougher riding suspensions is par for the course.

 

I replaced my 19" Turbos with 18" Carrera IVs, running Michelin PS2s. The ride is appreciably better on rough roads, particularly around town. There isn't a huge difference on the motorway. I don't think it's any quieter. I think it makes a better street car with the 18s.

 

Gonna have to test drive a set of 18's. I was hoping someone would say the ride was a significant improvement over 19's. Like I said the 19's aren't super rough but they can get tiresome on a long car ride and a rough highway. Construction zones for me after 4 hours in the car were a major annoyance.

 

My guess is different tires could make a bigger difference than 18" wheels.

 

I'm no expert, but I think the road noise you're experiencing is due to your tires more so than your wheels size.

A lot of guys who track their car do so with 18" wheels for the reduced unsprung weight. However, you're trying to meet two different objectives, that is, 1) wheels and tires that will give you a smoother ride on long road trips; and 2) wheels and tires you can take to the track. I think a new set of wheels and tires that meet one objective won't necessarily meet the other.

 

I ran PS2s on both 19s and 18s. The recommended size for 18s has more sidewall, absorbs bumps better. Gives a little more protection against potholes. You'll need an extra set of 18s for the track if you want to go in that direction. I run my old 19" Turbo wheels at the track, for the sake of convenience.

 

On 997.1s change to 18" is a major improvement. 997.2s PASM II was tuned for 19s and there's no need to change to 18s.

 

Check the reviews and ratings of the PZeros at TireRack. You'll find the Rossos are crap and I'm sure they're loud when they are worn. Check some of the threads here, you'll find other dissatisfied 6 speeders. I'm running the Bridgestone RE050A's and they're not bad. I'm sure the PS2's are better, but a lot more expensive. The 18's will be more comfortable, but tires will play a major role. To echo other comments, the car will not be quiet either way though. You want quiet, get an E90 M3.

 

18" rims are better then 19". only reason to ride on 19" is for visual effects. get 18" rims and search for soft wall tires, like re-11. that will make ride smoother.