What do you all think of aftermarket wheels?

[tupsliats]

I've always liked a clean, well kept, stock looking car. Never really wanted after market wheels, thought that I'd feel cheesy with them for some reason. I don't mind it on other peoples' cars, just never had the urge myself, until now. I don't want anything wild, in fact, I'd like them to be mistaken for stock, but not quite as dated as mine are. Just something different, lighter, and not directional. My OCD side can't stand my stocker's that are directional, but go different directions on each side of the car. I'm weird like that.



What's the consensus on the swap?

 

[shaf]

I like aftermarket wheels because most of the time people increase both the diameter and width of the wheels/tires they run, and this also usuallly means higher performance rubber.



IMHO swapping out stock wheels for different looking wheels of the same size with the same tires is a waste of time unless your car came with huge rims already or you absolutely hate the way the stockers look.



Be careful about what style you choose. I recently read an interesting discussion about how a certain rim style looked smaller because the spokes did not go all the way to the edge of the wheel and had a machined lip instead. There are a lot of visual subtleties involved when you choose wheel styling. HTH :up

 

[imported_memnuts]

Strictly stock design only at this point of my life. As you mentioned a well maintained (detailed) stock vehicle always attracts my attention more than an after-market dressed vehicle. All my Chevys had the plain stock wheels and so does the Lexus. Trends come and they go. 20 years ago gold BBS and Panasports were the rave now chrome wheels with every conceivable design and diameter are in vogue. Original (stock) design will always be in style and appear coordinated.

With that said, when I was younger ( high school and college years) I replaced the stock wheels for a more noticable designs and increased function ( wider ) for my lesser cars ( VW, Rx7) but since the Vette and to present I have stuck with stock.

Call me cheap. :nixweiss or just satisfied with the original product I brought. . I would rather save that $3-4000 for my next vehicle purchase. JMO :wavey

 

[boywonder]

One thing that this thread is going to point out is that putting aftermarket wheels on a car (along with customizing in general) is based on individual preference. In my case, I love the rims that came on the Maxima (I still plan to keep them) but I like to jazz or spice things up a little.

With that said, I have seen quite a few rims that look good on T-Birds like yours and you really don't have to stray from Ford. I have seen quite a few T-Birds with the older Cobra rims and they look pretty nice. I think Tire Rack carries those rims as well.

 

[MidnightHour]

PrinzII is correct with saying it's individual preference. I absolutely HATE the gawdy, chrome 22" wheels and all that 'spinner-wheel' jazz. It just doesn't do it for me at all. However, you'll never find me driving a car with stock wheels. If you find a nice set of wheels that compliments your car, it will totally change the look of your vehicle for the best. Here's a before and after picture of mine. Stock wheels are 17's and the current are 18".



Stockers

18x9"/18x10" Volk Racing GT-C's

Brandon

 

[tupsliats]

(Thanks to whomever moved the post here)

Nice Supra, I love those things.

I agree it's personal preference, but I'm also thinking about public opinion, or if I were to one day think the car is local car show material, how would it be received?

Here's what I'm considering: Ford Cobra R style rims, not chrome, just silver. I'll be going from16X7 to 17x9, which fits the car better, and going up to a much wider tire (225 to a 255). I like the stockers, but just think they're dated & bulky looking, plus that directional "issue". There is one of mine that is not quite the same color, darker, like it might have been taken from another car if the original got damaged. That bugs me. The ones I'm considering are pretty subdued, and are a Ford style, so it (maybe) won't look mismatched, maybe even stock-ish (the goal).



Here's a car I wanted to get, I missed it, but it already had these wheels. This is just what the car will look like, same wheels:

My car, with stockers:

 

[shaf]

Hmm, actually I quite like the way your car looks right now. One thing about factory wheels is that the styling usually matches the vehicle better.



I like the way people are thinking in this thread. Understated, simple rim designs are better IMO because they're less "trendy" and less likely to go out of style than wild-looking designs. That example that blkZ28Conv gave is perfect. I'm parital to simple 5 or 6 spoke designs myself, and think the Cobra R's look good. :up

 

[MidnightHour]

I agree. From the pictures you posted above, your car looks great with the stock wheels, but I think that Autopian shine has a lot to do with it. I really like the way those Cobra R wheels look though. They add a nice touch to the car. It also looks like the car you posted with the Cobra wheels has a slight drop. I'd suggest you do that also if you decide to go with aftermarket wheels to clean up the wheel gap.

 

[tupsliats]

Amen to that, Ford left a really big gap in the front wheel well. I think that there's a set of springs that is 1.25" rear and 1.5" front drop, which would clean it up about right. Something with some rake to it. That would be the plan, following whatever I do here. The wheels and tires wouldn't be overly expensive, I think about 1200 or so all together. If it were 3-4k I wouldn't even consider it. I think the digital camera is a little generous to the appearance of my wheels. I'd still have to replace that 4th wheel that isn't so bright, or have them all painted to match. 16's on a bulky car like this just seem a little too small.

 

[Pats300zx]

Here is the 18/17 inch combo on my 300zx. IMO they don't even compare to stock. Gives the car a completely different look.



HRE's on the 300ZX



More

 

[LuvmyC5]

I love my wheels, as it makes my car different from another one. They also allowed me to fit some 275/35-18's on the front, and some 335/30-18's on the rear. The rear tires are over 13" wide, and give the car a truly Wicked look.

 

[WalkmanX]

wow that's a nice vette! are those European/Japanese tail lights?

 

[boywonder]

a) Thank you. I was the one who moved it.



b) When I was younger, I wanted to get a Super Coupe in black. I looked at aftermarket rims for the 'Bird and decided I wanted these:



Ronal R9 in Black

Then I wound up looking at these in 17" or 18" in chrome.



Azev Type A

Outside of the wheels, I wanted to throw a 3rd Gen Firebird Pedestal spoiler on the car and came up with an audio system I wanted to throw in it (Kenwood, a/d/s, Audio Control)



As you can probably guess, I like rims that have an aggressive edge to them.

 

[Jngrbrdman]

I think they look good if they match the car. You can't really go wrong with a 5 star wheel. They are pretty universaly good looking on every car I think. I like these a lot better than my stock 15s.

 

[LuvmyC5]

Thanks WalkmanX! The tail lights are red/white euro spec tail lights. they are standard in Europe. They also come in red/amber, and look pretty good when mixed too.

 

[corvettez]

If you find an aftermarket wheel that you like and looks good on the car then go for it. There is a lot of choices out there and it does come down to personal taste. As it was said, something understated in a five or six spoke design might look good on your car, the Cobra wheels would probably be a good match in the right size diameter or you could go for a lower profile tire if you did lower it but stay within the guidelines for plus sizing so you don't have rub issues. It looks like you have a lot of room in the fenderwells to work with in any case. I never really cared for those directional rims myself, I always thought they drew your eyed right to the wheels more than the car and something about them almost seems dated. I was always OEM or nothing myself but there are a lot of nice wheels out there now so for me I have two sets of OE and two sets of aftermarket for my car and change at will but that's another story. In your case, the pic with the five spoke wheels seems to compliment the car and then your eyes tend to focus on the car longer than yours with the directional wheels. You can always save the OE wheels and put them on at show time if that's what you have to do. I just think a quality aftermarket wheel will speak for itself.

 

[imported_Luster1]

If aftermarket wheels are "tasteful", I like the agressive stance they give a car. But I don't like wheels that are to large for the car (plus-three, plus-four, etc.). They look ridiculous.

 

[corvettez]

Plus sizing done right with some degree of lowering can make some cars look pretty tight, lower the center of gravity and improve handling but I'll agree too, it may not look right on some cars.

 

[tupsliats]

Some nice cars popping up here!

One problem with the T bird is that it has an odd bolt pattern. I've only found a couple of other wheels I like, due to liimited selection, but they were 17x7 or 18x7.5, which are too narrow for a 255 (IMO) and I think an 18" would look out of place on the car.

 

[corvettez]

!7x7.5 will work fine with a 245 tire, you'd probably have to go to a 17x 8 for the 255 but an 18 would be better for 255 if that's what you need. Your fitment specs are very similar to Volvos of that year and should be 5-108 with an offset of + 35 to +40 or right in that area, maybe a 5-112 but there are a lot of AM wheels out there that would work for you if you look around and judging by the area at the wheel wells an 18" might look good with the right wheel.