Differences in wheel width
 

This is what I'm looking to get:


Wheels: Enkei Tuning TS9
Specs: 18" x 8 or 8.5

Tires: Continental ExtremeContact DW
Specs: 225 or 235/40/18

What exactly are the pros and cons into having a wider wheel. I know this is only a .5 inch difference but everything counts.

The only thing better I feel the 8.5 would bring is better look and slightly more balance but slightly heavier.

Any advice?

P.s. will be daily driving no auto x, yet

I threw 10.5's on and I honestly can't tell a difference at all.

Only thing is the grooves and slopes in the road like to grab you more.

Generally speaking, don't wider fronts tend to induce understeer? I'm partly asking for myself because I don't actually know. I'm .5" wider than stock right now. Squared. I'm pretty sure there's no point going wider as my power output is stock auto. :)

Wider rim allows you to fit a wider tire. As simple as that.
Yes they would both be heavier(wheel/tire), but there would be also be more maximum grip. The look could be better if they had a different specs, or they could look exactly the same on the outside widths. Example= 18x8.5 +35 vs 18x8 +29, the outside would face would be in the same distance to the fender, but the inside width is more narrow.

Incorrect, wider front tire means more grip at that end, aka more oversteer. Equal size tires is the way to go for this car.
Don't run staggered. It is a low powered car. And staggered will mess with the traction control systems. If you want equal distance to the fender front/rear, get a small 3-5mm spacer to adjust.

Hmm this is interesting right here. I know there are a lot of people here who run 20mm spacer in the front and 25mm in the back for our cars. Wouldn't this essentially be the same as staggering your car or is that different?

No, I think he is talking about a skinny wheel in front and a wider wheel in the rear. "staggered fitment"

I may go 8.5. Better look slightly more grip. The only down side that I'll be gaining 8 pounds with my wheel tire selection.

When you say look, what do you mean? How flush it is, or just having a meaty tire? Flushness is a characteristic of offset, not wheel width. So an 18x8+35 would be just past flush in the front and just under flush in the back.

That just means staggered spacers...
The internets has changed the meaning of words and at this point it just means unequal.
Staggered usually means different widths or diameter, which equals to different tire sizes.
The spacer difference is for aesthetics to the fender. Car is actually wider(staggered :lol:) in the rear.
Front track: 59.8
Rear track: 60.6
Best setup is to run same wheel/tire on all 4 corners so you can rotate tires.

Yea, my apologies for not clarifying.

Right now I am not worried about being flushed. As when I buy coilovers in the future I will buy the necesssary spacers along with them to have it flushed, or even poke more.

What I mean by look is basically that meaty look that you can see from the back, noticing how wide the tire is. I've seen pics where 8" wide don't look as good as 8.5" wide.

P.S. I'm also staying squared.

If you're looking for meaty tires, think about 8.5 wheels with 245 tires. 245/35 is right at the same outside diameter as the OEM tire, where a 235/40 is almost an inch taller. The TS9 comes in 18x8.5 +40, which would be just about perfect.

Ok. So how would that look meatier if the middle number is lower?

What about the first number, if it's wider, how would that affect how it looks with the rim?

I've been looking for pics but I can't find anything.

The middle number is the ratio between the tread width and the sidewall height. The lower ratio (35 vs. 40) will look smaller from the side, because it is smaller. You want to stay close to the OE outside diameter, if possible, to avoid throwing off your speedometer and whatever other systems that calculate based on number of rotations. Unless you're wanting to rallycross your car, and some people do, there's no real need for a taller tire.

From the back, the wider tire (first number) will look bigger, because it is. When people talk about fitting meaty tires on their cars, that's what they're talking about. There are a lot of people running 255's all around, and a few running 265's all around. They're a lot more difficult to fit than 245's are. As far as a 245 on an 8.5, that will work fine. A 245 looks slightly stretched on a 9 and pretty square on an 8.5.

"first" number in tire specs is the tread width in mm. i.e.- 245mm
"second" number is the PERCENTAGE of the tread width for the sidewall height. i.e. 35 = 35% of 245mm = 85.75mm

the sidewall of a 245/35 is not the same as a 225/35. but a 215/40 is almost the same even though it says "40". because it's a percentage.