(mods - thought this might be useful in the main area or even the lobby to educate those who might not go into wheels or other sub-forums.)

If you haven't had aftermarket rims then it's easy to convince yourself that the stock rims look 'ok' and don't need upgrading. But I had to get a new tire on my front rim so I took a pic of the car with the stock spare on so you could see a before and after.

I also noticed the stock 17" was 'inset" from the fenderwell a lot compared to my HRE which is 'flush' from the side.

First pic:

 

second pic after I got my front HRE back on:

 

Sweet ride Bit. Very classy.

-Anthony

 

LOL, Bit, the HRE's indeed look a lot better.

 

or like this..... (with a little touch of growth and chrome potions)...

 

That's not really a fair photo comparison, as you go from mod/stock to mod/mod. Of course matched wheels look better, but I think the stock wheels look classier and sportier than the spokey, rivety aftermarket ones.

Yes, I'm in the minority on this aesthetic issue. Believe me, I do think there are aftermarket wheels that look better than the stock ones. But for the most part I'm a believer in the "simpler looks better" philosophy, not to mention those aftermarket wheels must be a ***** to clean!

 

GS4fun those rides look sweet man very nice , what is the name of the spoiler kit?Are the car drop and if so how many inches ?how is the ride I notice you live in Jersey I know how bad the streets can be because I live on Long Island and Im afraid of droping my GS4 if I put a kit on .

 

Well, I could post just the front half of each picture and still make my point. My point wasn't about my kinda rims in particular, but that aftermarket rims just FIT the car so much better. That stock 17 looks so tiny with HUGE wheel well gap and it's inset from the body (not shown in the picture).

My point was that many don't consider aftermarket rims and I just wanted to show what a big difference they make. It wasn't about showing off my car. Heck, I've NEVER bought aftermarket rims until I bought this car.

I actually agree there are better looking wheels than what I have, but if the wheels are too open then the stock brakes look ridiculous. As far as cleaning, mine take a bit longer, but not that much.

 

Yeah, yeah rub it in bro................

Nice wheels by the way! Are yours the same as the ones on GS4Fun's car? I don't think they are, but I am not sure what the difference is (other than the fact that yours are not Chrome).

 

I think Bit's are 19's...the ones on both GS's are 20's. Hameed, aren't you looking for wheels? I have a set of Lowenharts that i'm selling right now in the classified area if you're interested.

 

Hey Manuel,

The bling bling factor on those Lowenharts is more than I want ................

I think the wheels look great, but I am really looking for HRE's - something similar or slightly different to what Dex just installed on his.

Also, one other very important factor is that I just don't have the spare cash required for this upgrade right now. I will do this upgrade next year, or if someone is selling a used set of HRE's at a price I cannot ignore, then I will do it sooner.

Your cars look absolutely awesome (as I have mentioned on several occasions before! )

 

hey bit, where do you take your car to have tires mounted? i need a good place that knows how to deal with 19"+ rims and wont scratch them. thanks

 

Thank you for this very useful info. I too have the L-Tuned shocks and springs set up with my 17" stock wheels and every time I see them, they still look good, but they still look small. Before Ltuning they looked even more out of place since the car was not lowered at that time.

I have never bought aftermarket rims and not about to go to 19 or 20s, however I am seriously considering at least 18's to at least make the overall look of the car better.

 

I go to the Butler Tire location in Doraville (go just outside 285 on Buford Hwy, take a left on Longmire and it's right there). Those guys are experts. You pay a fortune, but at least it's done right.

 

His are 20" 540's and mine are 19" 540R's. I've heard the 19" 540R has the same size center as the 20" 540 because the non-R (original style) rims have the double-lip outer making the required center size smaller. The non-R's are less expensive, but I wanted the bigger look of the R's since I wasn't going with 20's.