While I see the visual appeal of fancy wheels and low-profrile tire (sometimes anyway), the practical side of me simply never would go that route given the road conditions here in Pennsylvania.
Not to throw water on anyone's parade, but is the reduced tread life and extra cost really worth the look?
The wheels in the photo are being installed because the previous set of wheels with low-pros were damaged by road conditions and needed to be replaced. So the owner got "better" rims in the hope that they'll hold up better to the pothole that got him the last time.
Somebody has to keep the economy percolating I suppose.
Dear Dub,
I really want to spice up my ride with a nice set of alloy wheels, but the OEM wheels from the manufacturer are so much more expensive than the wheels that I can find at the auto parts store or online. Do you have any advice on whether I should spend the extra and go with original equipment?
Call me Ishmael
Well Ish, this is one with no wrong or right answer depending on your experience. For me, if I'm ever going to upgrade to an alloy wheel from now on, I'm probably going to go with the manufacturer. Yea, it limits my style choice and costs more, but it helps me avoid some of the pitfalls of aftermarket wheels that you sometimes don't think about.
Unless those aftermarket wheels are made specifically for your car, it's likely that they'll fit a range of vehicles, which means they're not going to be exactly right for any of them. The mounting holes may not fit as precisely over your lugs.
If the offset (distance from the hub mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel) isn't the same as your original equipment your handling can be adversely affected and that can lead to problems like increased tire wear or even suspension problems. The wheels may require you to put on wider tires, which is going to cost you in gas mileage.
One problem people don't even think about that I have personal experience with is that your OEM lug nuts likely aren't a right fit with the new wheel. They may look and even feel right when you put them on, and appear to have the wheel securely fastened, but they aren't. And then when they work themselves loose, you wind up with a wheel almost falling off the car. When this happened to one of my cars, it started a string of wheel bearings failing in that wheel as the hub must have been distorted without me realizing it, and two replacement bearings subsequently failed. So any money I had saved on the wheels I simply spent on unexpected repairs.
One other thing that OEM alloy wheels save me from is the temptation to put spinners on my car like the ones I saw on that Echo last year.
Talk about chasing the white whale of style! But I guess you get what you pay for. Sometimes you need the name brand, sometimes generic will do. Fashion always comes at a high price.
Dub
