Do Escort Cosworths handle better on 17's or 18's? please comment if your on std wheels too please

Bit of a long winded one

When I got my esc I had 330mm brakes to go on it so I changed the std wheels off it straight away so didn't get the chance to drive it on the std 16's so don't know and I've never had a car on 18" wheels before

I can't put the std wheels back on so I'm thinking of getting some 8x17's for the car as I've always felt when driving it the 8x18" i had previously and the 9x18" wheels I have now feel too big and are dulling the feedback and fighting the steering wheel when turning IMO

The only thing is everyone uses 8x18 on track and road and that leaves me undecided if I go down to 17"s I'm gonna have ground clearance issues but if it handles better I'll deal with the probs

What do you lot think?