mildly OT: changing tire diameter & effect on acceleration?

is there a significant negative impact on acceleration when increasing tire diameter w/ aftermarket rims?

given:
a) base catera has 225/55x16 (~25.7" diameter)
b) catera sport has 235/45x17 (~25.3" diameter)

various calculations show that, due to the lower effective gearing the catera sport from the smaller wheel diameter, the catera sport turns higher RPM at any given road speed. my guess this lower effective gearing across the board puts the "sport" into catera sport - at least when going in a straight line (i dont know of any actual differences in the engine performance).

anyone ever drive a base catera and catera sport back-to-back to see if the difference in effective gearing has any material effect on how the car accelerates?

reason i'm asking is that in my quest for aftermarket wheels for my catera sport, i'm going to end up w/ wheels about the same diameter as the base catera's:

c) aftermarket 245/40x18 (~25.6" diameter)

and i'm wondering, even though it'll look much more fly w/ the aftermarket wheels, if my car won't feel quite & perform quite so "sporty".

walter
i got lotsa questions!!!