ToasterD

I just bought a 2008 XB. The 16 in rims look good but I need to know if you all think bigger rims would look better. I was planning on buying some nice 16 in rims but now I am thinking maybe bigger is better???? Please help out a fellow XB owner

eight08customs

IF you have money to spend get 19s..

mikemann

something to consider....the stock hubcaps actually make it appear that you are running 17" wheels. Go measure it. The caps are larger than the actually wheel and extend beyond the rim.

So if you go with new rims it will actually looks smaller than what you have now!

roXor_boXor

I would not go smaller than 17's. I would only do those if a quiet comfortable ride is more important than handling and looks. You would get decent handling, but not as good as 18's and 19's.

18's seem like a nice compromise and are generally significantly more affordable than 19's. I don't know how the ride and handling compare to 19's, but some pretty knowledgeable people around here such as Randode put 18's on new xB's. The opinions on ride compared to stock are purely subjective, but a lot say 18's have more "road feel" but ride more like stock.

I have 19x8.5's and kind of go back and forth on how I feel about that. I spent a lot of money on them. They ride very smoothly as long as you are on a decent road. If you hit the road joints we have here in Wisconsin on many roads it feels about like driving over railroad tracks at a location other than an actual crossing. On the other hand, I love how they look and with the TRD springs and rear sway bar combined with the low profile tires the handling makes the car a blast to drive. As Marshall said, if you have the money 19's look the best. I get a lot of compliments on mine.

I have pretty much decided to hang onto the stock wheels and tires so I can use them for road trips. I figure that makes for a nicer ride (that equals happy spousal unit) and protects my 19's from damage and theft (since you have to park pretty crummy places sometimes while traveling). I also use winter tires and have a set of Bridgestone REVO1's for the xB that I used on my Mazda3.

Hope that helps in your decision. In the end you take the cost, ride, handling and appearance, number them in importance to you and chose using those guidelines.

Or you can cheat like me and have multiple sets of wheels and tires to handle different situations.

mikemann

I've driven an xb with 18"s on a non-lowered one a few times on test drives, while waiting for my xb to arrive. I personally did not think there was a huge difference in rid quality with the 18's and it had 225/40's on it.

I personally own a white xb now lowered with trd springs and 16" tires and will be going with 18's.

I'm doing it for he exact reason roxor states. 18"s are more affordable rims and tires than 19's. I love the way 19"s look, but I'm going to do the sensible thing here. ;-)

ToasterD

Ok I have a blackberry crush metallic box. What color rims would look best on it?

uberspeed

Most all vehicles I've had I've done a +2 on with a good suspension setup and they ride well. Still some wheel gap but I usually do my mods for performance over looks. Your call.