...wheels? Me & my buddy where having a debate as to whether bigger wheels on a car (say 19") will have an effect on speed/acceleration vs normal 17" ones? Is there any appreciable difference that you'd notice or is it purely aethetic?

Bigger wheels will increase speed (but speedometer will not reflect that while a cop's radar will) but will decrease acceleration.

The current fad is for big shiny wheels with skinny rubber band tires. You need to measure the outside diameter of the tires to determine if they will make a difference. With bigger wheels the speedometer will read lower than the actual speed.

Bigger tires are wider so they will enable the car to perform better. A 19" wheel will corner much better than a 17" wheel. More rubber, more grip.

for the same engine speed it will go faster

On a normal street car there is little you can do with tires to increase performance over normal OEM sizes. I guess a wider tire in the rear could reduce or eliminate "burn-out" or slippage during acceleration, and sport style wheels with good quality performance tires will improve performance and handling in rally type driving, IE: hugging curves. But that's about it...

will be more speed.......but also have some effective...think twice before u choice