17" Magnum 500's

Bewy said

A friend of mine has the same model GTO as me. My GTO has the original 14" wheels, but one inch wider [ now 7" ]. 235/60 section tyre. Mates car has these horrible looking 17" wheels, small section & feels every bump in the road, like & horse & cart.

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Wheels and tires are a part of your cars suspension. If you just slap a set of 17's on without making the appropriate changes to your alignment and suspension components you can absolutely end up with a car that rides like crap, even though you've likely improved its grip and potential performance. But you have to match the suspension to the new capabilities of the wheels and tires.

You would have the similar result if you put 14" rims and bias-ply's on a modern car without making changes to the alignment and suspension- it would handle and ride like crap, because that's not what the suspension was designed for.

If you make the proper improvements to your suspension the 17" wheels will improve handling without sacrificing ride quality. But that requires matching the capabilities of your suspension to your new wheels and tires and running a proper modern alignment, not factory specs for bias ply's.