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...

 

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...

 

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.

 

Who said that?

 

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 =)

 

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?