I feel it important to reiterate the fact that ride quality and road vibration on 22" is not better than stock rims. I am posting this because over the past 3 weeks I have gained quite a bit of experience with my 22" wheels and have some observations. I have no intention of arguing with anyone, I just want the truth in MY situation to be stated. I see a lot of people claiming the ride is better than stock and I don't want anyone to be mislead.
While some of you may believe that your ride quality has improved, I think its a case of denial. I've driven many cars with upgraded rims and tires, and never once, has going to a larger wheel improved ride quality. Lower profile tires ride harsher, its reality. The suspension on my Audi A4 was trashed after 70k miles on 18x8.5" wheels.
Handling improved? yes indeed. More rubber on the road...
Lets do a few tests:
1. Drive with your pinky finger only on the stock tires. Then do so with your 22"s and post your results. You will see a noticeable difference in movement in the steering wheel. These cars tend to have quite a bit of bumpsteer with the stock wheels and tires. This is dampened by the higher profile and cushion of the stock 18" tires. I have had SCARY bumpsteer experiences with the 22"s. Had I not been gripping my wheel tightly and corrected the steering, I would have easily hopped over into the other lane or onto a curb. The bumpsteer is drastically magnified with 22" wheels and 265/30/22 tires. Please be careful where you try this. If you hit a pothole or imperfection in the road, your steering wheel WILL jerk and your pinky isn't going to be enough to handle the bumpsteer.
2. Throw your car into a turn way too fast. TRY and toss that rear end out a bit. With the stock wheels and tires, this will be controlled by ESP and be quite a smooth turn. The ESP system gives a lot of confidence to most drivers. That confidence is tossed out the window. Now try that with your 22" Wheels. Hop Hop hop. Scary isn't it? If you aren't experiencing this, you havent pushed the limits of you vehicle on the 22" wheels. (not that I endorse this) Find a large parking lot like I did and you'll see what I mean. The suspension and ESP was not designed with the 22" wheels in mind. It no longer feels 'right'.
All that said and done, its important to recognize a few facts.
Wheels don't get any lighter than a forged 3 piece design. Generally, 3 piece are racing wheels and I had assumed this would provide a slight performance increase over heavy cast wheels. I was dead wrong. The wheel and tire package is about 10 pounds heavier per wheel than the stock tires. I can't imagine heavier wheels would handle or ride better than a forged setup.
22" tires are expensive. I doubt any of you will be lighting them up too often or entering any drifting competitions any time soon
I still like to know what the limits of my vehicle are, and there is no better place than an airport or large parking lot to explore those limits. Consider an autocross event if you dont want to have a meeting with a police officer. The limits of my car are downgraded with 22" wheels and tires.
Don't upgrade your wheels to 22" unless you want to adjust your driving style. Regardless of what anyone says, they HAVE adjusted their driving style to 22" wheels and their ride quality has changed.
I love the way my car looks, Love the extra rubber on the ground, and love the looks people give.
I hate the bumpsteer, hate the road vibration through the steering wheel, hate having to constantly avoid bumps, grates, and potholes, and I hate parallel parking next to curbs.
Stick with 20" if you drive a lot. 22" is fine on a daily driver, but prepare to make some sacrifices. I still have no intention of swapping mine out for 20"s but my opinions have changed since driving for 3 weeks. I'm willing to make the sacrifice to give the car "the look" but some of you may not.
Hope this helps some of you.
