What’s Your Favorite Wheel Design?

Wheels! They’re such an important part of the car because they’re what makes the car roll. No wheels, no drivey, it’s as simple as that. They’re also a crucial piece of a car’s design. Too big, and a car looks silly, like some kind of doofy joke. Too small, and the car looks differently ridiculous, but ridiculous still. Under normal circumstances, a wheel and tire package should neatly fill the guards, with maybe a little tire poke to the outside if you’re going for an edgy tuner look.

Of course, some cultures go to extremes. Donks ride on gigantic wheels, to the point where they look ridiculous and barely operate as a car anymore. The opposite trend was at one point a thing in the lowrider community, where tiny wheels made the cars similarly undrivable, to say nothing of brake clearances, either.

But it comes down to more than just mere size. Personally, I’m a big fan of five-spoke wheels. I think they look great on a whole ton of vehicles, from JDM classics to older American cars, too. I used to run a nice set on my Mazda MX-5, which really made it look quite nice.

As an aside, the benefit of the MX-5 is that here are tons of examples online you can use to guide your wheel choice. Research told me that 15-inch wheels were ideal, and guided me towards the right offset to get the look I was going for. You can see my car in the header image.

I tend to find that vintage cars look better on vintage wheels. I saw a Lada drop-top that looked great on a classic 70s-style spoked design. That car may have come out in the 1990s in Australia, but it looked much older. Thus, the older wheels seemed to work with its general aesthetic.

Similarly, the Holden Hurricane absolutely rocked its unique wheels that were reminiscent of a spinning finned heatsink. Ironically, the lack of ventilation meant they’d probably be terrible for keeping the brakes cool, but they looked like they were high-performance items.

Maybe your tastes differ from mine. Perhaps you love tri-spokes, or those horrible single-spoke wheels that look as unbalanced as the guy sitting by himself in an empty subway carriage. Or maybe you think the C8 Corvette should have come out with a set of 14-inch Watanabes. And speaking of Corvettes: do salad shooters work on everything? Maybe!

Image credits: Alfa Romeo; Lewin Day