Hello Everyone,

I‘m new to the forum, but not Jaguar. As a previous owner of a 95 XJ and 2017 XJS. I finally just purchased a 2018 base F-Type which I always wanted. The good news is it only has 3k miles on it. The possible bad is that it’s rear wheel drive, came with the stock 18” 10 spoke wheels and Continental summer tires (car was originally from CA). Living outside of NYC I am going to need all season tires. I have another AWD car that I can use for the bad snow days. My question is should I stick with the 18” wheels or buy a new set of 19” wheels. The ride on the F-Type is good now, but will going to the 19” be a noticeable difference in the bumps and potholes (I had to get the wheels repaired twice on the XJS)?

 

If ride quality and comfort is more important to you, stick with 18s. If looks are more important to you, get 19s.

 

And if looks are really, really important - 20"s!

 

I was considering something similar tho my DC Metro area climate/roads are probably a little more forgiving than yours. I test drove a local 2020 F Type on 20s to determine if it was notably more harsh than my 2017MY. Over the handful of miles thru active construction areas and hole-y highways, I didn't find the 20s to be significantly less comfortable than the 18s on my car (given same mode selections, similar spec F-Type). I could definitely tell that the 18s give you a "cushion" where the sidewall of the tire absorbs a small amount of each impact, whereas the 20s relied more on the F-Type's (extremely well-tuned) suspension to manage bumps/holes. imo, that "cushion" is a blessing and a curse. It introduces vagueness and reduced my confidence in the grip level on any surface (even with casual street driving), but it does take a little bit of the edge off.

As anyone will say, it's a tradeoff but imo it's 100% worth doing a +1 or +2 to give your ride the right look/feel

 

I'm for the looks! Have '19s wish I had '20s.