cause the 16's I have look small ( they cam ewith the crx when I bought it), on my crx the 16's were perfect, but on my hatch they just look a tiny bit too small. I am not going for a race car, or even a high hp daily driver, but I am not going all ghetto either. I want more rim to be seen but imo 18's are too much for a hatch so 17's are right on the money. plus with my choice of rims I don't think it'll look as big given the darker finish of the rim and the "phantom grey pearl" factory paint. Basically I just like the way they look, I know they won't ad like 20 terabytes of hp and 15's on a this car in a street application just jook weird when it's dropped, on a track car where the extra flex in the sidewall of the tire is a good thing then 15's/14's are no problem.