After careful consideration and test fitting the 18" wheels on my car. I decided to get another set of 19" Apex wheels in same exact sizes that I have now so that I could get some used slicks and/or R7s . I know most of people are scared of having a bit of grinding on the struts but it didn't bother me at all. Since the wheels that I got only cost $1000 a set, it's very hard to pass
FYI, this is how the 18" Apex wheels (18x10.5" +22mm offset with 8mm spacer) look like. As you can see it rubs slightly as the wheel lip sits closer to the knuckle than the 19" Apex on the same width and offset:
I could still have a bit more grinding to the circle welds but I don't want to use 8mm spacers either and the weight difference between 18" and 19" wheels are not that big (22.5lbs-23lbs vs 24.7 lbs)
I also ran off track once and bent one of the front wheels as I went over the concrete bumps but it passed the test! It didn't break but just slightly bent as I would expected from a forged rim. Total cost of that mistake = $250 :P Since it looks like it's repairable I will keep that as a spare
I believe the actual compound itself is more important than the wheel or tire size so financially it makes more sense to get a cheap but strong rotary forged wheels and use the funds on tires. I also didn't have any fitment on rubbing issues with 305/325 NT01s on 19x10.5 and 19x11" wheels so the idea is to have a Track and Track+ set as I don't care much about the street/rain driving. If it ever bothers me I can get some R888R after these Nittos
For those who want to go with wider wheel up front may want to consider adding the C7 Z06 fender flares like in this picture:
