[notStanLee]

Hi everyone.

I ordered a 2018 Accord Sport, and I'm getting it in the next few weeks. The thing is, the streets in my country are... Well... Bumpy, at times.

As you know, the car comes with 19 inch wheels, and of what I've read/seen, the ride with those wheels is going to be... A struggle.

So I'm considering switching them up to 18 or 17 inch ones. But my question is: which one do I choose?

I guess for the best ride comfortability, I'd go for the 17 inch ones, but... Are the 18 inch much worse? I know 19 is much worse than 17, but what about 18? Are they that much different from getting the 17s? I'd like to keep some of the style that 19 ones have, but if the 18s are not much different from the 19s, in terms of ride comfortability, then I'll probably go with the 17s.

Thank you all.

 

[gebr]

I have OEM 19" wheels currently, and here's my opinion from trying to decide the same thing.

- I'm skipping 18" wheels, if aesthetics are important, just keep the 19" wheels, otherwise go 17" for maximum comfort.

- If keeping 19", maybe go 245/40 19. This should only change your RPM by 1.3%, while giving you 0.31" overall ground clearance, wider contact patch, 0.16" sidewall height, and some extra protection against scraping the wheels.

- If going 17" wheels, you can go either 235/50 17, or 245/50/ 17. the 235 will be an almost perfect swap with OEM size, and gives you 0.93" more sidewall height, wonderful for bad roads. The 245 will be similar to above, but reduces change from 1.3% to 0.9%, and gives you even more sidewall 1.12".

Side notes, wide wheels are usually better except when concerned with MPG, OEM 19" are 8.5" wide. If going to 17" wheels, get at least 7.5" width or wider, and offset around 45-48mm, and that should clear.

Good luck.

 

[Stylinhonda]

It depends on the tire as well. I had an 18” winter tire setup that was louder and a bit harsher than my 19” OEM setup.

 

[notStanLee]

It depends on the tire as well. I had an 18” winter tire setup that was louder and a bit harsher than my 19” OEM setup.

Interesting. if I may ask, what tires did you have on that? Do you remember?

 

[RCarlL]

Honda (at least in the United States) used two different wheel and tire setups- and owners can have either one installed on any 2018 Accord without issue:

19x8" wheels with 235/40/19 tires
17x7.5" wheels with 225/50/17 tires

I owned both a 2019 Accord Sport 2.0t and a 2021 Accord Touring 2.0t- both of which came with the 19" wheel and tire package from the factory. In winter, I used a set of OEM 17" wheels with 225/50/17 tires and they worked fine. If you want to stick with a factory tire package/size- just get a set of 17" OEM wheels (pretty cheap on sites like Ebay in the US- unsure about your location) and mount 225/50/17 tires.

The quality of the tires that you choose will significantly impact how quiet and comfortable a smaller-diameter wheel might be in your case. If you purchase cheap tires or tires that are more focused on sport/handling- then they probably won't be much quieter or ride much better than the 19" OEM wheel package. If you buy a quality set of tires that are designed for a quiet and comfortable ride- then you'll probably notice a difference.

Good luck.