Manufacturers offer many different sorts of wheels in various patterns. When you configure a car on a website there are nearly always options to change the wheels, at extra expense.
Clearly then, there is a market for them - even these:
www.wheelbasealloys.com/16_Inch_Tansy_Daisy_White_Alloy_Wheels__6151
For my part, I give not a fig for the wheels, or what they look like. I couldn't even tell you what they look like on my car without checking, never mind on other cars. It's of no interest whatsoever to me, so I'm not part of this market.
Do you care? Would/have you spent some extra hundreds to get a different patterned wheel?
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I think you are the exception. (not on here tho, most are boring old farts when it comes to car styling so you are in good company)
Yes, the wheels can make or break the look of a car. Car stylists and designers think so, as wheel arches are in integral design point for proportion. (within the limits of engineering obviously, stylists, if they could, would do away with wheels - Ala the Jetsons,.
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>>Do you care about wheels?<<
No as long as there are four of them.
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>>
>> No as long as there are four of them.
>>
Make that five.
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Yes, I'm very fussy about wheels.
The Volvo has the correct, and nicest, of the old alloy wheels, corona I think.
Triumph has original chrome nave plates (alias "hub caps" to the unititiated) plus chrome rim embelishers.
Landrover has plain steel wheels in "limestone".
What I hate are tatty plastic trims in off-grey held on by cable ties. Bare steel wheels would look nicer.
I watched a man in a nearly new Mercedes wreck an alloy wheel last week. He parked by driving slowly up onto the pavement at a glancing angle and then dropped down into the gutter. As his front wheel hit the kerb there was a metalic crunch. His extreme low profile tyre was pinched hard, and he chipped a lump out of the edge of the wheel. When he had walked off I looked at the wheel - there was a crack radiating from the point of impact.
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>> The Volvo has the correct, and nicest, of the old alloy wheels, corona I think.
>> Triumph has original chrome nave plates (alias "hub caps" to the unititiated) plus chrome rim embelishers.
One of my best Volvos was a big bumper 144GLE saloon in ice blue, that had steel wheels with chrome rim embellishers, those and the genuine Rostyle wheels were both smart and tough/durable enough for long term use, i'd sooner have them than alloys.
Incidentally have people noticed just how short lived the latest finsihes are, the diamond cut and laquered finish as favoured by MB and Ford.
It looks nice for about 2 years and then corrosion snakes under the clear laquer and the wheel looks carp in no time.
Why don't maker use wheels like these Durabrite lorry wheels (no i got the standard Alocoas on mine that need regular cleaning but look better IMO), they last for many years and huge mileages and come up clean with just soap and water...would they be a bit too long lasting? ::-)
www.alcoa.com/alcoawheels/europe/en/info_page/durabright.asp
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A mechanic mate of mine always said that a set of clean sparkling windows (days before drug dealer black outs) and nice looking shiny wheels made a car, he was right on both counts.
I have 2 non standard sets on my old MB, AMG copies for my winter set and Parotech multi spoked for the summer set.
The car looks completely different with both sets and much better IMO than the standard MB wheels of the time, though beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it wasn't for looks that the wheels were changed.
There's a subtle difference between looking good and those blinged overchromed oversized up to 22" monstrosities that seem to find their way onto 4x4's of all things, its the car equivalent of removing steel toe cap boots and putting on 6" high heels for mincing.
Incidentally i keep the alloy wheels on my lorry mirror polished, plus spotless windows/mirrors, mine and the few others equally well cared for look completely different to the ingrained with muck uncared for average, silly pride i know.
Any wheels filthy with salt corrosion and brake dust detract a lot from any vehicles appearance.
The trouble is with keeping your car wheels spotless is that the eye is drawn to them and nothing looks worse than a rusty caliper or hub just inside, mine are black hammerited, looks right to me...each to their own.
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So long as the standard set don't look Terry-Tryhard aggressive or too fiddly to clean, I'm happy. My aesthetic preference is for more than five spokes - I like the S60's seven - but the LEC has five, albeit doubled, and looks fine when I notice them at all.
So generally, provided they keep the bodywork from dragging on the ground, they'll do for me.
Edit: had a look at the daisy wheel and I rather like it. Would suit a bright green Mini or Beetle, presumably driven by a retired typewriter repairer.
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Mon 22 Apr 13 at 10:03
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Eh, I likes the alloy wheels on me Lancer, I spends as much time cleaning em as I do the rest of the jamjar.
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The wheels on the Qashqai are 5 spoke things which seem to work very well as wheels and look fine to me. Really easy to clean too. The ones on the Merc are "AMG" jobs with all manner of nooks and crannys. Look nice enough I suppose when clean but gather brake dust for a pastime and take ages to clean properly. I'd sooner have had some which were easier to maintain given that due to regular high mileage my car is generally bogging dirty.
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For those drivers who want to cut down on brake dust, apparently EBC Green Stuff pads don't make brake dust in anything like the amount.
Might be worth remembering when the time comes for renewal.
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I've cleaned my wheels a few times, but they look like anthracite when they're dirty, which I prefer with the decuma grey colour of the car. Don't worry gb, they have gtech wheel armour on :)
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Quite happy with steel and five of them. Not too low profile either. The Xantia's 205/60 are OK but as far as I'd like to go. Standard plastic trims cover the gubbins but are easily replaced when they get too scuffed.
We'd driven the 'lingo for a while with one missing. Fell off driving away from village. Recovered but stuffed in garage pending a check of why it departed. Slightly surprised at MoT time when its absence was noted as an advisory along with some minor body damage and 'engine components concealed by covers'!!
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Those daisy wheels would like just fine on a Japanesse pick-up :-)
Wheels do make a massive difference to the look of a car, and do feature in most peoples opinion of a car, sub-consciously or otherwise. I avoid cars with multi-spoke as they are just such a pain to clean. I also avoid cars where the spokes stand proud of the rim, seeking out the nearest curb.
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I prefer steel wheels any day. I remove the wheel trims and store them in the shed until I flog the car again.
My only car has allies (4, the spare's a full-size steel) and I hate them. They're a pain to clean, showing signs of corrosion in places that could never be caused by kerb damage and have ingrained brake dust/disc rust that I can't remove. The wheel nut recesses also have lacquer damage, caused no doubt by me removing the wheels for brake servicing.
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One reason I chose the base model Dacia Duster was for the silver-painted steel wheels without plastic wheel covers. They just look right. The next model up also has steel wheels but a fancier design which doesn't look good at all. I don't have to worry about damaging expensive alloys (though the high profile tyres which have a lip to protect the wheel minimise damage anyway).
It's quite likely that the steelies are lighter than alloys as well, reducing unsprung weight and overall weight of the vehicle.
My car is a working, useful vehicle, not a fashion statement!
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I'd probably prefer steel, but don't mind a set of alloys. It's just a tatty set can make a car look terrible.
Only time I ever actually paid any attention to the styling of my wheels was when I owned a 2004 accord tourer. It had, I think, 15" alloys and looked totally out of proportion.
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I like a nice design, but don't like big 'gay' wheels that people call rims.
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I check out the alternatives to standard wheels when I buy a new car, but always go witht he default ones. I suspect that the manufactures choose the ones as standard that they think most people would go for anyway.
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This is what my wheels look like and i think they really make the look of the car.
Snowflakes look good on any car i think.
www.netcarshow.com/ford/2007-mondeo_concept/1600x1200/wallpaper_05.htm
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I used to like the Rostyle wheels on 70s /80's Fords. Pull up outside the pub in your new Roman Bronze 2.0 GL Cortina with Rostyles and beige velour and you could strut in with your shirt collar flapping and your head held high...
:-)
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>> you could strut in with your shirt collar flapping and your head held high...
>>
But never the shirt tails flapping, dear me no, thats for new age lager louts..:-)
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When I ordered my current Focus I was interested enough in the wheels and tyres to get the dealer to swap the original 17" wheels fitted with 215/50 tyres for 16" wheels fitted with 215/55 tyres off another Focus. I would never trust wheels that were not sold by the car manufacturer.
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The MX5 has some Fox aftermarket wheels on it that would look good if they weren't so knocked about, which bothers me more than the style.
I'd get them refurbed, but two have bent rims. I'll probably find some original pattern ones for it.
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A Mazda dealer told me all early MX5s were imported with steel wheels fitted and allies were fitted retrospectively. I don't recall seeing many with steel wheels, but IIRC they were standard in 2003 when my daughter bought hers.
There must have been a lot of wheels and tyres floating around at the time.
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Funnily enough I was discussing this very subject with a colleague who was giving me a lift last night in his rather nice Holden Monaro (which has original fit 17" wheels with 45 profile tyres).
The super-big blingy wheels beloved of the M-Sport and S-Line brigade (on their debadged under-engined tax-dodging company chariots if I get on my soap box) in the UK are not in evidence down under. In fact steel wheels (often attractively styled) are in evidence on many 4x4s. You'll see E90 BMWs with steel wheels and trims plus Focus and Golfs similarly equipped. Wheel sizes appear slightly smaller too, your typical BMW has 16" or (where needed) 17" wheels and no-one is daft enough to run 19" wheels.
I wondered whether this was because of poor road surfaces, however they're not generally poor in my experience - certainly as good as I recall the UK being, even in Tasmania and New Zealand.
So, other markets (and Hong Kong is similar) seem to be less obsessed with impractically large wheels than the UK. I wonder why ?
I like the steel wheels fitted to the base (new BMW) Mini and looked for a set to fit my 330d for winter tyres but could only find alloys in the requisite 17" to accommodate the brake discs, pity.
Last edited by: idle_chatterer on Tue 23 Apr 13 at 05:22
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...beloved of the M-Sport and S-Line brigade...
Don't forget 'AMG Sport' or whatever MB calls the fancy dress kit that adorned the C220 CDI courtesy car I had the other week - flat-bottomed steering wheel and all. Meant to write it up here, in fact - only had it for a day but it was a useful experience, if not an entirely pleasant one.
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>> Don't forget 'AMG Sport' or whatever MB calls the fancy dress kit that adorned the
>> C220 CDI courtesy car I had the other week -
Yes do report on that WdB, MB devotees do not acknowledge some tarted up standard model adorned with undeserved AMG badges at all, indeed scorn would be poured from a great height at a MB Owners Club meet.
An AMG has a hand built rather special engine if nothing else, without that the car does not deserve the covetted badge.
Doesn't bother me TBH, if people get pleasure from driving a second rate lookalike with drain pipe exhausts sticking out the back good luck to them.
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Manatee,
I have a set of MX5 original alloy wheels in the garage from a 1998 model. They are in pretty good condition and also in my way. My son replaced them with new Mazda ones that "looked better". If you are interested in them, let me know. I have some photos somewhere. I live in south Gloucestershire about 10 minutes off the M5. My wife is eyeing them up for scrap value but I'd rather they were used as wheels.
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The thing I like about alloy wheels is that they don't usually have wheel trims or nave plates.
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>> The thing I like about alloy wheels is that they don't usually have wheel trims
>> or nave plates.
>>
But that is their very downfall isn't it? One moment of carelessness and alloys are scarred for life on our granite kerbs.
Of course you can keep on having them repaired, at quite some cost, if there is only superficial damage.
Putting aside all the guff about alloys being lighter (probably not) thereby reducing the unsprung weight and having better concentricity/balance due to manufacture, I still think good old steel wheels with nice, relatively cheap covers is the more sensible and cheaper approach.
Having said all that the Atlanta Alloys on my Golf MK6 do look nice when clean with their Diamond polished faces on the radial arms.
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>>I still think good old steel wheels with nice, relatively cheap covers is the more sensible and cheaper approach.
>>
My low rent Sierra had steel wheels and Ford alloy look covers.
A great combination !
Very plain disk with no cutouts, a lot of strong clips so the trims never got lost PLUS they did not overlap the rims.
Care free parking because a gentle kiss on a kerb was soon sorted with a file, emery paper and a dob of paint.
Since then it is worry and park away from kerbs :-(
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>> >> The thing I like about alloy wheels is that they don't usually have wheel
>> trims
>> >> or nave plates.
>> >>
>>
>> But that is their very downfall isn't it? One moment of carelessness and alloys are
>> scarred for life on our granite kerbs.
All parts of my alloy wheels are inboard of the outermost part of the tyre sidewall. Some tyres even incorporate protective flanges. www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-article/tyre-rim-protector
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>> The thing I like about alloy wheels is that they don't usually have wheel trims
>> or nave plates.
>>
The Toyota Prius II is guilty of heresy here.
Standard fit is grey alloy wheels with silver plastic trims covering them. I'm still trying to work out what Toyota were smoking when they went for that combination.
Apparently it is possible to get wheel centres for the alloys from Toyota and ditch the trims, as I have seen a few running around like that.
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This Alloy wheel nonsense is yet another gimmick thrust upon us by the motor industry isn't it?
I suppose, once upon a time, they might have been an optional extra but now there are only a few makes or models within the range, where one can choose a sensible steel wheel shod with a nice rubbery high profile tyre and thus give us some protection from our appallling road surfaces littered with potholes and the ubiquitous sunken inspection covers.
The stupidity is that most have have been sold on these Ally monstrosities and even specifiy larger wheels for their pride and joy, with just a rubber band of rubber tyre to insulate/isolate the wheel from shock after hitting or bottoming into potholes etc.
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I've always liked to see a nice set of wheels and tyres filling the wheelarch since my first car.
I upgraded my Herald to Spitfire style 5.5J Dunlop steels. Had a basic met blue Firenza a few cars on with lovely polished Wolfrace alloys the previous owner had wasted his money on.
Then my Saab 99 Turbo sat so nicely on its wider alloys compared with a standard model.
www.saab99turbo.com/images/Saab99_Sweden1978-1980.jpg
Similarly Mrs F's Audi 80GT looked nice with its alloys compared with a GL model on skinny steels.
veteran.auto.cz/wp-content/gallery/audi_80_1/73_Audi_80_GT.jpg
But apart from the Herald I've never paid to upgrade wheels.
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>> ............ with a nice rubbery high profile tyre and thus give
>> us some protection from our appallling road surfaces littered with potholes and the ubiquitous sunken
>> inspection covers.
It's not just the tyre profile that determines the distance of the wheel from the ground, it's the product of the tyre profile and the width of the tyre. My current 16" wheels with 215/55 tyres are slightly further from the ground than my previous car's 15" wheels with 195/60 tyres.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 23 Apr 13 at 13:13
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Are you observing that, measuring it or calculating it, l'Es? Ignoring the squashing of the tyre against the ground, the difference should be 1.25mm - too small to notice, I'd have thought - and I'd expect the heavier new car to squash the tyre more than the old one did.
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>> Are you observing that, measuring it or calculating it, l'Es? Ignoring the squashing of the
>> tyre against the ground, the difference should be 1.25mm - too small to notice, I'd
>> have thought - and I'd expect the heavier new car to squash the tyre more
>> than the old one did.
>>
I was merely pointing out that the tyre profile isn't the only factor which determines the distance of the tyre from the ground, and was comparing my current 55 profile tyres with my previous 60 profile tyres.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Tue 23 Apr 13 at 13:37
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Give me some nice old balloon tyres. We have all gone too far with tarting up our cars with wheels that aren't really suitable. My car has 16" rims and wouldn't ever consider anything larger.
Forum mates, put 18s on their Golfs and then moan about the harshness of the ride and tramling.
My mate and his new BMW 5 series has got those ghastly Runflats and got a puncture about 200 miles into a European holdiday to South of France. What do you do then, as the distance you can then cover is limited, isn't it?
If I remember, he had to call out the emergency service, who then got him a replacement tyre - such is advancement.
He also fractured two alloy wheels, when coming home on a dark wet night on unfamiliar roads. His nearside wheels dropped into a deceptive puddle of water on the nearside - yes, a very deep pothole filled with water.
Aftermuch letter writing to the local councils I think he got reimbursed for his expenses of two new wheels.
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William** certainly didn't want the standard steels on his new "mota".
cdn.scahw.com.au/cdn-1ce1963bf9fca20/ImageVaultFiles/id_147483/cf_3/ENT-Will-i-am-Car-628-2.jpg
***AKA Shy.I.aint
Last edited by: Fenlander on Tue 23 Apr 13 at 16:38
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>> Give me some nice old balloon tyres. We have all gone too far with tarting
>> up our cars with wheels that aren't really suitable. My car has 16" rims and
>> wouldn't ever consider anything larger.
What width and profile are your tyres?
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>> >> Give me some nice old balloon tyres. We have all gone too far with
>> tarting
>> >> up our cars with wheels that aren't really suitable. My car has 16" rims
>> and
>> >> wouldn't ever consider anything larger.
>>
>> What width and profile are your tyres?
>>
205/55s
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>> My car has 16"
>> rims
>> >> What width and profile are your tyres?
>> >>
>>
>> 205/55s
>>
They're somewhat less comfortable than my 215/55 R16 tyres.
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>> >> My car has 16"
>> >> rims
>> They're somewhat less comfortable than my 215/55 R16 tyres.
>>
How do you know?
My first Golf a MK5 had 15" rims shod with tyres that I think were 195/*** and were nice and fat, relatively speaking and seemed more comfortable on the road.
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>> >> >> My car has 16"
>> >> >> rims
>> >> They're somewhat less comfortable than my 215/55 R16 tyres.
>> >>
>>
>> How do you know?
I don't!
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>> Are you observing that, measuring it or calculating it, l'Es?
I'm calculating it using this ........... tinyurl.com/69pkmk
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I've got 19" wheels...
On my vintage car. However, the tyres are only 4" wide, and are 100% profile, ie 4" high.
Not that many cars are these days, but standard profile for radials (mine are crossplies) is 82%. The percentage is of the width, so a 235/35 17 is 235x0.35mm high and if it were not low profile, it would be 235x0.82mm high.
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>> I'm calculating it using this ........... tinyurl.com/69pkmk
>>
Note the tyre suspension comfort value, which is the thing in which I'm interested when choosing a tyre width and profile.
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I've always liked the aesthetics that a good set of wheels carry. These are the ones I have on the Volvo
tinyurl.com/aqxnsuq
....however, the ride is shocking. A lot is down to the suspension set up, but the wheels must be a fair contributing factor, so its likely to be the last time I buy anything with 18" alloys on again
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Oh dear. I refer m'learned friend to my earlier statement regarding Mr Terry Tryhard.
Even allowing for the extra width, I reckon 235/40x18 tyres put the metal 20mm closer to the road than the 205/55x16 tyres on mine. I vividly remember the unpleasant surprise of an 18-inch-Nebula-wheeled S60 courtesy car - which at least gave me a chance to make the same decision as Mikey without having to buy one first.
};---)
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With large diameter wheels, it's almost as if they're trying to hide the tyre from view, as if it's unsightly. I happen to like large profile tyres, and the sidewall design of my Vredesteins really adds to the cars' looks.
The increasingly worn road surfaces coupled with increasing wheel diameters don't make sense. It's crazy, and I wonder where it will end.
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Do you care about wheels? - Zero
