What is the deal with all these big 19 and 20 inch wheels on roadsters and coupes?

[Wingnut2u]

My 997 is on 20's and my 986 is on 18's and they both look good to me :dance:

Personally 16's and 17's look way too small on the 986 and should only be used for track days. 18's still give you enough sidewall to absorb the harshness of the road and keep your ride relatively comfortable.

[Perfectlap]

^wingnut2u,

are both of your car lowered?? What size tires are on the 18"s? Anything above 18" on stock springs/struts does not look right to me. Even if you've got more rubber filling the gap the rear bumper and front bumper still look as if they're sitting higher off the ground, which in sports car terms looks contradictory. Like something you would see on muscle car or drag racer. Just my opinion.

As far as performance and ride, if the car is going to be sitting lower since of course it's been set up for sportier specs, then you're only compounding the jarring and punishment the car is going to take by going with such large wheels. This may work on new models with brand new shocks, but as parts start to age the size of the wheel starts to show its weakness.
Think about it. 19" wheels used to be strictly the domain of trucks and vans.
Now they're on sports cars despite, to my knowledge, there being no advantage in either street driving or on the track. It's purely an urban style cue. I suspect it's more to do with the greater prices that both wheel makers and tire companies can turn for slightly more material as another poster pointed out. In other words the vendors are feeding the trend when from a performance and ride comformt standpoint they should be discouraging it.