The key thing here isn't the rim diameter (17" vs 18") is the total rolling radius including the tyre. For instance you're probably running lower profile 18" tyres.
i.e. on my car I have 18" B6 S4 wheels and tyres to replace my standard 17" ones.
The standard S4 17" wheels come with 225/45 R17 tyres, where as the 18" B6 wheels have 235/40 R18 tyres. So even though they have a larger inside diameter they have a lower profile.
Using somewhere like
http://www.tiresizecalculator.info/
Gives:
So the difference isn't as great as the rim size change would indicate
Original tire
Sidewall: 3.99 in
Radius: 12.49 in
Diameter: 24.97 in
Circumf: 78.45 in
Revs/mile: 807.61
New Tire
Sidewall: 3.70 in
Radius: 12.70 in
Diameter: 25.40 in
Circumf: 79.80 in
Revs/mile: 793.97
Speedometer reading with new tire is 1.72% too slow.
When your speedometer is reading 60mph you are actually traveling 61.01mph.