16" vs 17" wheels

My commuter car is a 2016 Mazda 6 with 19" wheels and low profile tires (stock). It's the dumbest trend in cars these days. Hell I remember my parents with a loaded 88 Honda Accord with 13" alloys...and it never once occurred to me it needed more wheel.

If I could find someone with a "base" Mazda 6 i'd swap my 19" for their 17" in a heartbeat. The tires are cheaper, it rides better with more sidewall, less noise, less vibration, etc. Smaller sidewalls buy you better "performance" because of less sidewall flex, but at the expense of everything I said above.

I have the 16" wheels on my tacoma and I know why they do the 16" on the OR models. It just makes more sense. "Sport" and "feel" on a truck on the road is kind of a pointless thing. If you were really worried about on-road performance and feel--why get a truck?

And have you seen the wheels on the Raptor? They are tiny, but purposeful. Old school, and I love it.

 

I didn't know about that, thanks!

 

What are the weight differences between 16s and the 17s? With and without tires.

 

You’re not dumb bro, you’re smart enough to ask the right questions. The XP Predator package is a dealer installed option available in certain regions(not available in NorCal when I was looking).
In a nutshell aesthetics between 16 & 17 is subjective; 17 gives you more tire choices. Unsprung weight is a factor between the two but can be offset by the right tire choice for your driving need.
I went with 16 for more sidewall but the ride feel is negligible on the street between 70 and 75 series.

 

almost negligible. Tires can be very heavy, but vary substantially brand to brand, load ratings, ect.

If they were somehow the same design wheel and same tire in both a comparable 16 and 17 I’d assume the 16 heavier due to the tire weight.
Now if it were a 20 and a 16, the 20 might be heavier, due to the massive metal wheel. There just comes a point somewhere where the wheel needs to be structurally sound but too big starts to get heavy.