Please Critique These Wheels! (Pics)

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
It's no placebo...it's real improvement.

I read somewhere that lowering weight by 100 lbs is like adding ten HP to your car. Now if that ten lbs is rotational mass then the improvement would be exponential.


For a 3000 lb car with 300 hp, 10 hp would be about right. Removing 10 lb of wheel weight would be like removing 15 to 20 lb of static weight, probably closer to 15 lb if it comes off the wheels, and closer to 20 lb if it comes off the tires.

So, it's about like removing 30 lb from the vehicle in terms of acceleration. The removal of unsprung weight might be the biggest benefit. Either way, I think that gives the aftermarket wheels the advantage!

 

[ksJoe]

Originally Posted By: wantin150
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: Onmo'Eegusee
Bottom wheels, stock spoiler.


+1

That wing looks corny....


+2


+1.

Also, the smoked headlights in the lower pic do look nice with the aftermarket wheels.

 

[bustednutz]

I like it without the sunroof deflector. Glad you removed it.

 

[Ibrahim]

Aftermarket rims and original spoiler...

the aftermarket wheels make car more aggressive and sportier and gives a serious look but the aftermarket spoiler it simply is SPOILING the beautiful sight...i am sorry...it actually hurt my eyes!

love ur wheels!

 

[ewetho]

Bottom looks good. Normally prefer stock better than 90% of the time but that looks OK.

 

[rshunter]

The color of the aftermarket wheels only serves to accentuate the wheel gap, which isn't a positive. Dark colored wheels rarely go well with a light colored car. If the wheels were silver they would look more integrated with the overall design of the car and draw the eye away from the gap.

The spoiler? Leave the WRX wings to the Imprezas and the EVO wings to the Lancers. To be blunt, the lines just don't work with the pronounced curves of the Eclipse. It's all about the flow of the body-lines. Imagine looking at a woman that has a spectacular body, starting at her feet, only to arrive at a face that would make Medusa look like a super-model. It's the World's easiest game of "spot the difference".

 

[xtell]

Bottom....

 

[Neil_A]

Originally Posted By: rshunter
The color of the aftermarket wheels only serves to accentuate the wheel gap, which isn't a positive. Dark colored wheels rarely go well with a light colored car. If the wheels were silver they would look more integrated with the overall design of the car and draw the eye away from the gap.


Like these? Sorry didn't mean to thread jack.

 

[heavyhitter]

I like the bottom pic. The tint, smoked headlight, rims look nice. But I agree with the others ditch the spoiler. But It probably cost you some $$ you you'll probbaly keep it.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: Neil_A
Originally Posted By: rshunter
The color of the aftermarket wheels only serves to accentuate the wheel gap, which isn't a positive. Dark colored wheels rarely go well with a light colored car. If the wheels were silver they would look more integrated with the overall design of the car and draw the eye away from the gap.


Like these? Sorry didn't mean to thread jack.

Yeah, that is what I was talking about. A dark colored wheel tends to add to the visual black-hole the tire sidewall and gap produce. A lighter colored wheel tends to counteract that effect. It won't eliminate the gap, of course, but it will make it less blatant.

Another point to keep in mind in wheel selection is the "visual mass" of the design. A wheel design which has a very thin appearance, with less surface area, will look out of place on a car design that has a substantial weight to it. You tend to get a sort of wagon wheel effect.

The size of the car itself doesn't really correlate to the visual mass of the design. It is more a case of how the design is executed. A good example is my MkV GTI. While it is a smaller car, the visual effect tends to be heavier, making a thinner wheel design look out of place. A wheel with more surface area will typically look far better on the MkV.

One thing that adds visual mass to a tire/wheel combination is having a large braking package visible behind the wheel. This is why you will often see very thin spoked wheels on higher end sports cars that don't look out of place. This also has been exhibited on MkV GTI's running thin-spoked 19" wheels, which have been upgraded with a "big brake kit".

 

[Chuck1986]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
BTW,are the aftermarket wheels a quality brand or cheapos?


Motegi DP10s.
I'd say they're a quality brand.

 

[AdRock]

Get rid of the wing all together. Go wingless.

Keep the aftermarket rims.

Lower the car about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.

 

[ryan2022]

bottom rims with top spoiler.

Also, a lowered eclipse is a beautifull eclipse. Theyre a really nice looking car IMO, but suffer from largish wheel wells.