rims tires compared to stock tires

Lower profile tires tend to have softer tread compound.. meaning they 'stick' better to the road. They also wear out faster. Look at the wear rating on the tire.. The Michelins Harmonys we have on a couple of our cars have a rating of 560. A Michelin Pilot in the same size may have a rating of only 180. The higher the number the longer the tire will last. www.tirerack.com should have a pretty good article on this.. look for 'tire ratings'.

 Balancing a large diameter rim isn't really any different than a 'normal' sized one.. the ability of a shop to balance (and mount) any particular rim size will be determined by what equipment they use.  Same for alignment.. shop equipment might not be able to handle a 22" rim, just put the stock rims back on the car for the alignment, then put the big rims back on. Shouldn't be any problems.

 WRT brakes.. when changing rim or tire size, consider the Outside Diameter of the tire.. this determines the revolutions per mile of the tire. A tire sized 205/55-16 has the same OD (and RPM) of a tire sized 185/75-14.  The car won't know the difference. But when you start increasing the OD of the tire over the stock size you start seeing problems with speedometer inaccuracy, possible ABS problems and acceleration problems, as well as possible problems in other areas.

 But in a quick google search, I'm not seeing any warnings on big rims causing brake problems.. about the only thing I can think of is that a larger OD would cause a slower rotor RPM at any given speed vs. stock tire OD, but I don't know if that would cause problems. Weight wouldn't really be a concern WRT braking; that's more of a suspension issue.

 If anyone can post links to warnings/tech articles, I'd be happy to learn..

 Hope this helps,

 Jim

From a performace standpoint, upgrading (disc) brakes would start with a better quality brake pad; maybe a upgraded rotor in the same size as the OEM brake rotor. That'll cover 90 something percent of the people out there driving on the street. For the few people who need better brakes because what they've got isn't getting the job done (driving serious on a track), you start looking at multi piston calipers and bigger rotors - ie. a 'big brake' setup.

 To fill up a set of big rims,  jump directly to a set of 'big brakes'. Bring your wallet. Bigger diameter rotors, new calipers painted shiny with someone's name on them, new pads, and possibly other stuff.

 Here's a kit for 7th generation Civics..

http://www.7thgencivic.com/parts_reviews/showproduct.php/product/73

 $1700.

 01-04 Sub WRX - $2395.

http://www.stillen.com/brakepros_detail.asp?id=32348&main=1

 Regards,

 Jim