Excited Vibe Newbie, need help selecting new rims

[mgwashburn]

Hi Everyone,Just bought a used 2004 Vibe (Silver with Titanium colored cladding). A few questions. The ride is in great shape, 1 owner, retired man who only put 30,500 miles on it. Oil changed every 3000 miles on the dot with all records.One issue is the tires are at their end of their life. So I wanted to replace the HEAViLY Rusted steel rims at the same time. So her it goes:I noticed that many Vibe owners replace their stock rims with either 17" or 18" rims. Is there a big difference in the ride? My girlfriend will freak if the ride feels like a wooden roller-coaster.As far as looks, since its a two tone silver and gray, does it visually look better to go for a chrome rim? I have yet to see a black or black/chrome combo on this color car?Lastly, I am not sure I want to replace the drum brakes yet, will it look silly if I just spray paint the drums black? Especially since I like the lightly spoken rims where you can see through to the hubs.thanks in advance,Marcproud New Vibe owner,former owner of 2006 VW Golf TDI (until ex-girlfriend totaled it and now they are discontinued .

[ZubenElGenubi]

Welcome to GenVibe!If you're concerned about the ride, consider 17" rims. You'll definitely notice the difference going from 16's to 18's.IMO, the best colored rims for your paint/cladding combination would be gunmetal. Here's a thread that has a similar situation to yours:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=28762I'd hold off on spraying the drums until after you get your wheels.

[mgwashburn]

Thanks...I will then probably go with 17"s....I am adding a tow hitch for my jet ski and utility trailer...so I probably can't drop the car at all without fear of bottoming out at the boat launch...but the new rims should look sweet. I will post what I find in a day or so.Marc

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[Sublimewind]

Personaly, crome would look silly... Gunmetal... definitly... I don't know what styles you like, so i'll wait to see what you come up with first.... I would look toward Rota wheels though, but that is just me... http://www.rotawheels.com/

[4X4CHICHI]

Chrome looks pretty good, but gunmetal will really tie in the two-tone cladding.

[WaveAction]

welcome to the site