Do wheels realy make a difference on the ride? or is it just bragging rights on how much you paid? Do identical wheel: one about $450 the other $1,500 make a difference?

Wheels are mainly for looks, the ride is definitly not better then stock. If you dont like how they look then I would sugest not getting them. Now as for $400 rims and $1400 rims depending on who the 2 companies are there could be a big diference in quality but most of the time its like getting Nikes over Payless, your paying for the name.

I'm going to be grabbing some big $499 wheels ;P That's all four with tires, lol
Going with the payless shoes

hit it! xBassist

I tired to save every dollar on my 19's.. and I did... I got rims and tires for 1250.. axis rims and perelli rubbers.. I just wanted the look of 19's is why I spent the monies on em... 8)

There has been all sorts of talk on this subject in the past, but the end consensus came down to this.

You get what you pay for when it comes to wheels/rims.

I just spent over 1k $$ on getting myself some new equipment for my band.. So the $499 tire/rim deal will have to do for me ;P

I'm starting to get the search narrowed down... Thinking about maybe getting some black wheels.. May look good on my thundercloud..... Hmmm.... Has anyone seen gunmetal or black wheels on the thundercloud xb that might have pics?

19 inch? damn. do you rub?

what did you get? perfomance or just looks.

I like the fact they look good in all types of wheels, they dont look to bad lowered on hubcaps. They look damn good with a set of volks or work, you really cant go wrong. :D

there has been posts over and over about it.
not just on this website, on ANY website.
some people get conservative priced wheels,
some people get the expensive stuff...

i have stock's.. so i guess i can say im a neutral party.
so im not a guy whos saying "what i did is the right thing"

with that in mind... i tell u this:

the phrase "u get what u pay for" was created for a reason.
period.

for the record ... the rims you run do affect the performance .... larger rims give better handling (less flex cuz less rubber) but you loose some "get up and go" (more weight = more power to turn)

since these cars are not exactly "speed demons" I went with 18's ... just cuz they look better

as to the cost of the rim ... you get what ya pay for ... and going with what's cheaper in the short run could cost you more in the long run ....... for example, you have a choice between a $500 set and a $1000 set .... the $1000 set lasts years with no problems cuz their built better and in the same time you have to buy 3 sets of the $500 set since, say rims bend or crack (known to happen) so you wind up spending $1500

as my pappy always said ... "Ya gotta pay to play"

i agree.. u gotta pay to play..

and as for my personal experience.. i always
bought cheap rims.. used rims.. nicely priced rims..
and i went thru like 5-6 sets of rims if not more in 2 years.
with the money i spent and loss.. i coulda gotten 1 set of
PERFECT RIMS.

u'll notice for yourself that people on this forum(not saying who)
have already switched rims and what not. if they were 100% happy
and decided that hey. i got the PERFECT rims. all they'd be doing is
changing bald tires. NOT selling and buying rims of the same size.

im not saying who or is it bad or not. its just that i've done it and regretted it.
i calculate that i coulda bought DUBS for the money i dropped throughout
5-6 sets of rims. anyways. yea. u get what u pay for. pay a lil more..
u get a little more. ie: volk racing gt-n... u give them a quick
splash of water, the dirt and brake dust comes right off with ease.
u splash some r1's or some tenzo-r's.. u better get down on ur knees and scrub.

Depends on how you use your car. If you use your car for long commutes with less than perfect roads/highways then go with a cheaper rims but looks good (looks good to you that is). But if money is no object, heck go buy the best quality wheels out there.

Since I drive alot (18k first 6 months) in my xB, I went with the cheaper wheels. I love those JDM Work wheels but the price is just so expensive (1300 - 2000 a set of 4 without tires) and I would probably cry when I accidentally damage it.

A fellow Nor*Cal Scion owner's advice, "save your money for a nice Work wheels with the right off-set , use this wheel for meets and show and use the cheaper wheels for your everyday commute". :D With all the meets and mini-meets going on here, I'll be swapping rims every weekend... :x

My personal experience with rims is that whether you pay $2000 or $500 it's all the same. I've talked to my local rims dealer a few times about pricing of different rims and he told me "All the rims are made in the same 5 factories and have different decals slapped on them." I'm not totally sure how true this is, though if you look at my Motegi rims ($1000) and some Eagle Alloy rims ($500) they look IDENTICAL. As far as ride quality goes, you definately lose it. Because the rims are larger and there's less rubber they have to pump those tires up so that you don't bend your rim. It's like driving on a rock tire vs. a pillow tire. My wife's mom always told her as she was pulling her hair back as hard as she could to put in a pony tail that "Beauty hurts." This is no different.

A fellow Nor*Cal Scion owner's advice, "save your money for a nice Work wheels with the right off-set , use this wheel for meets and show and use the cheaper wheels for your everyday commute". :D With all the meets and mini-meets going on here, I'll be swapping rims every weekend... :x

Who said that?

My personal experience with rims is that whether you pay $2000 or $500 it's all the same. I've talked to my local rims dealer a few times about pricing of different rims and he told me "All the rims are made in the same 5 factories and have different decals slapped on them." I'm not totally sure how true this is, though if you look at my Motegi rims ($1000) and some Eagle Alloy rims ($500) they look IDENTICAL. As far as ride quality goes, you definately lose it. Because the rims are larger and there's less rubber they have to pump those tires up so that you don't bend your rim. It's like driving on a rock tire vs. a pillow tire. My wife's mom always told her as she was pulling her hair back as hard as she could to put in a pony tail that "Beauty hurts." This is no different.


VERY GOOD POINT! lots of factories make rims and are relabeled by
different companies.. like eagle alloy and what not.
motegi rims are pretty sorry. i would never pay more than 500 bucks for
them. rule of thumb. can u say a sweater or t-shirt was made in the
same factory overseas and thats why old navy's price is 24.95 retail
and a polo or ralph lauren one would be 49.95.
is the quality the same?
go grab a set of 1piece tenzo-r poke10
they are imitation blitz rims.
u seriously can't tell a difference?
as for getting what your driving habits need, thats understandable,
but i dont think its right for people to think that all rims are produced
in 5 factories and thats it.
some CHEAPER rim companies are shady like that. buying low
priced rims and selling it u nder a new name for a stupid ___ MSRP.
and that example u brought up is a PERFECT example of how u get
what u pay for. cheaper stuff like that is like that. when people say
the quality isn't the same or the quality is "ok" not good. its cuz of that.
the little thigns like relabeling rims or whatever should never had
gone on. but cheap ___ companies do anything to make a buck.

ps: just because u drive a lot doesn't mean u can't afford nice rims.
rims are up to u on choice. lets just take your
MOTEGI(which are a joke) rims at lets say.. 1200~1400 w/ tires?
5zigen makes many lightweight cast rims around the same price.
the craftsmanship on the FN01R-C is compeitition worthy.
look at D1. many drivers were using them, they can take a total beating,
cheap to replace, and isn't a relabeled shady company.
i guess in conclusion, what company or what particular rim u choose is
what it's really on. u can spend 1000 on a company that relabels, or
1000 on a company who makes cast rims like less than 1lb per 1inch.

My personal experience with rims is that whether you pay $2000 or $500 it's all the same. I've talked to my local rims dealer a few times about pricing of different rims and he told me "All the rims are made in the same 5 factories and have different decals slapped on them." I'm not totally sure how true this is, though if you look at my Motegi rims ($1000) and some Eagle Alloy rims ($500) they look IDENTICAL. As far as ride quality goes, you definately lose it. Because the rims are larger and there's less rubber they have to pump those tires up so that you don't bend your rim. It's like driving on a rock tire vs. a pillow tire. My wife's mom always told her as she was pulling her hair back as hard as she could to put in a pony tail that "Beauty hurts." This is no different.


VERY GOOD POINT! lots of factories make rims and are relabeled by
different companies.. like eagle alloy and what not.
motegi rims are pretty sorry. i would never pay more than 500 bucks for
them. rule of thumb. can u say a sweater or t-shirt was made in the
same factory overseas and thats why old navy's price is 24.95 retail
and a polo or ralph lauren one would be 49.95.
is the quality the same?
go grab a set of 1piece tenzo-r poke10
they are imitation blitz rims.
u seriously can't tell a difference?
as for getting what your driving habits need, thats understandable,
but i dont think its right for people to think that all rims are produced
in 5 factories and thats it.
some CHEAPER rim companies are shady like that. buying low
priced rims and selling it u nder a new name for a stupid ___ MSRP.
and that example u brought up is a PERFECT example of how u get
what u pay for. cheaper stuff like that is like that. when people say
the quality isn't the same or the quality is "ok" not good. its cuz of that.
the little thigns like relabeling rims or whatever should never had
gone on. but cheap ___ companies do anything to make a buck.

ps: just because u drive a lot doesn't mean u can't afford nice rims.
rims are up to u on choice. lets just take your
MOTEGI(which are a joke) rims at lets say.. 1200~1400 w/ tires?
5zigen makes many lightweight cast rims around the same price.
the craftsmanship on the FN01R-C is compeitition worthy.
look at D1. many drivers were using them, they can take a total beating,
cheap to replace, and isn't a relabeled shady company.
i guess in conclusion, what company or what particular rim u choose is
what it's really on. u can spend 1000 on a company that relabels, or
1000 on a company who makes cast rims like less than 1lb per 1inch.

I'm not saying get Motegi rims. If I had to do it over again, I myself probably wouldn't. I'm also not saying that ALL rims are made in the same place. A guy told me that, but I said that I wasn't too sure on the accuracy of that comment. I'm just saying that for most people who don't want to spend $1000+ on rims, rims are rims. Like you said, the cheaper rims do shaddy things like re-labeling, but that's how you get the cheap rims. You can go out and spend $10,000 on some spactacular rims if you want and they're probably going to be a better rim than some Exel rims that you find for $500 with tires. For the average consumer this isn't a viable solution. My point was when you're in the pre-$800 to $1000 bracket there isn't much of a difference, so just get what you like.

cheap rims are either heavy, or weak, or both.


people buying 18s/19s/20s shoud be very concerned with strength.

but then, a strong 18/19/20inch wheel will either be very heavy, or VERY expensive.



which is why im sticking with some inexpensive ligthweight 15/16 inch rims =)

cheap rims are either heavy, or weak, or both.


people buying 18s/19s/20s shoud be very concerned with strength.

but then, a strong 18/19/20inch wheel will either be very heavy, or VERY expensive.



which is why im sticking with some inexpensive ligthweight 15/16 inch rims =)

So you get a forged rim.

I ran 18" forged wheels on my integra that were 16.5lbs each.

I have a 2 piece on the xb that weight 20lbs each which is also an 18".

Wheels should be something that reflects who you are. Prolly one of the more expensive mod's you make right?

Buying rims is for the name and the quality. If you invest in a great set of rims the first time it should last you a long time. Kind of like buying jordans it nice to see them on your feet and you know they are expensive. It just shows your taste.

So what is a good inexpensive 15 inch rim for every day driving and somewhat good looking (5-6 spoke).

there is a difference in quality and manufacturing between exspensive and cheap wheels. that is something you will notice as time goes on. if cheap out on wheels, then please get good tires. that is the first contact between the car and ground and you want it to be good.

Katy Texas I live like ten minutes away I live off Ten and Hw6

Were you at the Olive Gargen by West Oaks Mall by any chance about 2 weeks ago? If so, my wife and her freinds were trippen on your Box. They and others were wonder what heck it was, then I showed her what i wanted, and she mentioned that she saw a white box. By the way, did you get yours here in Texas? because i mentioned it to my dealer, and she said that they are just begining to sell them here.

the worst thing is when you ball out on some expensive rims like my 18x9 blitz type 03's in blitz silver and people look at them and are like "that's cool" and go look at a civic with some rota's or something. after tax and everything it was almost 4k, i've only seen in person 4 other sets of these wheels and none of them were blitz silver (i just have to add that because it's like 200-250 extra per set). it's extremely hard to find a set of these for the vr4 because of there offset and massive breaks. even wheelmax doesn't carry wheels for the vr-4, or so they told me right off the bat. not that there's anything wrong with rotas and such but you'd figure some people would appreciate REAL jdm when they see it. im tryin to spend less than a grand on some wheels for the box but would love to be able to buy socalbox's volks from him cuz i want a set of sweet bronze wheels. im lookin at adr fuels for my bsp and dammit ill prolly run some damn nankangs on it to save me some money.

but it's personal preferance, how many of us wth lightweight wheels are gonna autocross or drag race our 108hp box and how much difference will they make??
most here are just doin it for the look, save that 1k+ on your rims to get that in dash tv, springs, emblems, intake, header, or any extremely overpriced bB accessory you can find.

adr fuels- bronze/gunmetal
adr sokudo- 8/10 bronze/gunmetal

i can see both sides of your points..
but some people just don't care what people think, they
jsut get what they think is good or cool..
i mean. i personally wouldn't mind spending more on rims and suspension
and skipping the tvs and intakes.

BUT on the other hand, some people want as much as possible for their money.
theres no wrong or right..

i mean u goto a show right? u see a car with rims, intake, exhaust, tv's,
springs(lowered), super white lights, and a cf hood.

OR you see the SAME car with just some expensive rims and nice suspension on it.

people will like either car depending on his/her own preference.


as for my thoughts, i fix up my car for myself, u can call it stock, u can call it ugly,
but what i like is what i like. i persoanlly like the low-profile setup, i dont want
anything flashy.

but im sure we can all agree that ideally, we would get EVERYHTING and the BEST of everything for our cars

I always thought it was what you liked, and what you could afford.

I can't afford $2k for wheels when I drive 160+miles everyday and these crappy freeways. I would be destroying wheels everyday.

I found something I liked, knew that I could affford, and knew that there were strong enuff to hold up. Plus, if I needed a replacement, I could easily find one.

The more I read the happier I am with my $500 17 inch eagles, heck they are round and ride real close to stock but handle corners much better than stock and tires aren't any more $s than the OEM goodyears. 17" is a great all around size if you do a mix of driving :D 8)

im not gonna lie...the talon in my avatar i have a set of 18x8 Volk GT-Us in a custom ordered gunmetal from volk....you just cant find em anywhere...i ended up paying about 3500 i think for em.....best wheels ive ever had...they are only like 18 lbs no tire for an 18.......but yeah...as far as the wheels for the bx...im goin trd....then im goin Advan Generation 2 on that thing.......int he show world wheels are a status marker.....on the street world its lal oohs and aaaaahs

TRD wheels are made by RH Evolution. When I was looking into rims/tires I had to make some decisions. The roads around here where I live are horrible, so the biggest I wanted to go was 17", anything bigger and I risk bending, denting, scratching a rim on a daily basis. If I wanted to go with 20"s I could have afforded it, but it would be stupid to spend the money, bend a rim, replace rim, pop tire, replace tire, etc. So I began looking for 17" rims that would look good on my TCM...not just how my TCM looks now, but what it will look like in the future. And so I chose Motegi(yes Motegi) MRM's with Hankook Ventus HR-II rubber. And I got an extremely good deal on them and paid well under $1,000 for them, and that was mounted/balanced/center cap/lugs/etc. I don't go around bragging about my rims, but it's nice anytime someone says "I like those rims, it really compliments the car." If I ever leave this area of bad roads, I will probably get 19" rims, but until I get out of the risky area, 17"s work fine.

-Z

thats the way to think man.....My 18s are the worst ride with the 2 inch drop.....they handle on rails....but the comfort is just not there.....does nayone have any feedback on the TRD wheels....what exact color are they acn such?

IMO one of the best benefits of expensive Japanese wheels (aside from strength) is the wide range of offsets available. It seems like every cheap wheel sold around here is running a 40 something offset. Which is cool is you like the "oh no, you sunk my battleship look" :roll:
One other thing is there are still some way cool wheels in Japan that haven't been copied yet. 8)

yeah i liek the advans cause the only wheels that look remotely like them are the konig MP3 and if i could find it id snatch that thing up quick

The old joke is:

lightweight, cheap, strong.

now you can only pick 2. What do you want out of a wheel?

That actually describes a lot of wheels.

as far as the "is there a difference between a $1k wheel and a $400 wheel that look exactly the same", yes there usually is. Take Racing hart for example, a lot of times they make very nice 3 piece forged wheels. Now there are a ton of knockoffs running around, which look exactly the same, but they are most likely 1 piece cast wheels. So for the same look, but a cheaper price, you are getting a heavier, and possibly not as durable wheel. The choice is yours...

i've never heard of broken wheels. now curbed is another or damaged but to me most of the time that is the drivers fault. i know i'm getting cheap wheels so flame on. drag wheels or some other taiwan crap like 90% of the wheels out there. as long as my 17's weigh less than 19 pounds i'm happy.

Fo me it's just for looks I did not want to get the cheapest set out there but something that would be repected by other XB owners. I spent just over 1 large for my set of 18's

Part of me would love to spend $3k+ on wheels and tires, but for me spending $650 on a lightweight 17" wheel/tire package SHIPPED that I actually really like offsets (no pun intended) the desire for bling. When my tires wear out I'll just get a whole new package and sell the old ones on Ebay. I don't think there's anything wrong with that...
Now if my xB wasn't a daily commuter I'd consider some Work or Club Lineas... as it is I rather spend the same cash on a disc conversion and interior mods.

If TRD wheels are made by RH evolutoin doesnt that mean they are knockoff cheap quality?

Honestly, if the wheel looks titties, then I think by all means, go fer it! I am lookin at the 5zigen GN+ in bronze...probably 17's...what any thoughts? I have a PW xB

http://www.5zigenusa.com/images/wheels/pracer_gn_mattbrz2_600.jpg

Rim's make the car period. You buy cheap you get cheap. Why would you waste your money on cheap rim's? If you can't afford the expensive one's save a liitle more. Why settle for junk? Just my opinion.

If the rims look ghetto, the car looks ghetto. If the rims are the bomb jumpoff, chances are the car is, too. Look at Joey's car: all he's really got on it are rims, coilovers, and HIDs; but he's got one of the sweetest cars out there.

That doesn't mean you have to drop $3000 on wheels and tires, just get something that looks good. Well-done 15s or 16s look better than ghetto 19s. 20s on this car just look silly. It's all about having good taste.

Do wheels realy make a difference on the ride? or is it just bragging rights on how much you paid? Do identical wheel: one about $450 the other $1,500 make a difference?

Ask yourself this... can you afford to buy cheap wheels. They can bend , crack and split if made cheaply. If you drive hard you better think about getting a well built wheel capable of handling the load.

Am I the only one that doesn't believe in rims? They make me feel like someone's gonna shoot me to steal my car parts :(

Depends, cheap is good sometimes as long as it looks nice because when something bad happens like gettin jacked or hitting a curb or sumthing it doesn't hurt as much. I just bought 18" axis reverbs last tuesday and this afternoon it was raining and the floor was kiinda flooded. I was driving like 20mph cuz i was scared of anything bad happening and what do you know, under all the water is a HUGE pothole which cant even be seen which i sunk in, curb rashed my rim, and broke the sidewall of my tire to the point that i found 2 pebbles burried underneath the rubber. The curb rash isnt major, but that ____ makes me wanna cry like a baby...

Am I the only one that doesn't believe in rims? They make me feel like someone's gonna shoot me to steal my car parts :(Wow, sounds like you need to move if that is a potential problem. :nails:

It's not that it's common where I live it's just what I've had to grow up with at school and on TV...

Depends, cheap is good sometimes as long as it looks nice because when something bad happens like gettin jacked or hitting a curb or sumthing it doesn't hurt as much. I just bought 18" axis reverbs last tuesday and this afternoon it was raining and the floor was kiinda flooded. I was driving like 20mph cuz i was scared of anything bad happening and what do you know, under all the water is a HUGE pothole which cant even be seen which i sunk in, curb rashed my rim, and broke the sidewall of my tire to the point that i found 2 pebbles burried underneath the rubber. The curb rash isnt major, but that poopie makes me wanna cry like a baby...Observe, this is why I will not be rocking rims larger than 16".

simply stated, there's no accounting for taste (chrome wheels? jordans? i'll pass.)

one of the best set of wheels i have ever seen on this forum or any car anywhere was the set of stock steelies that the owner (digitlvr?) spray-painted red. it's part of the "who's dropped on 15s" forum...check it.

and my favorite wheels interaction was when i first got the xB and some dude in his black escalade (oh god) rolled up at the taqueria with his chrome 24" wheels and asked me how much the xB cost. when i told him he said "My wheels cost more than that!"

exactly.

you can buy a gold-plated cell phone for 15 grand. it is the blingiest cell phone on the planet, but it doesn't get a better signal than any other cell phone that you can get for free.

a fool and his money are soon parted...

bumping an old topic. just curious how all the new users feel?

as for me well you see what i roll with.

i think a simple comparison is a TAG, OMEGA or ROLEX
vs. like Timex, Casio or Seiko.

Seiko makes a good product, but after about a year, the
bezel and the band gets scratched up and the band
slowly becomes looser and looser and looser.
now the linkages are all flimsy and crappy like..

the tag will feel like the first day you bought it.
i know this first hand. and I think thats a pretty fair
comparison to cheap wheels and good wheels.

i've had a couple of sets of Work wheels, they've now
had like 6-7 years of driving under the belt but they
look nice! a few friends have had work as well and same
thing, a few years of driving and it looks like new.

when u get cheap wheels with cheap finishes, the finish
slowly goes by-by over time.. like axis wheels's polished
lip starts bubbling the clear coat. same will go for sportmax,
and other such cheap-o companys(rota, etc).