There are so many things to think about when detailing your car. Whether you’re in it to completely modify a vehicle from the heap it was, or just in the need of some sprucing up of an already fine machine. Whatever your reason, attention to detail is super important and no stone should be left unturned. You don’t want to have a finished product and have one single feature standing out, causing you to say to yourself: “Man, I should have added this or that like I wanted to. Why on earth didn’t I do it when I had the chance?”
Why be left with such thoughts when you finish your product as opposed to being proud of your wheels when you’re all done and cruising down the fast lane? And speaking of wheels, tire rims are probably one of the most overlooked feature in car modification, and for this we say: Why?
Tire rims say a lot about the vehicle in question and the driver behind the wheel. The rims say, in fact they scream out that the driver is a stickler for detail and has the type of car that is perfect from top to bottom, and choosing these rims is another deal altogether. There are indeed a lot of choices out there, as the technology for rim design has sure come a long way, as you’ll learn about in this article, and we’ve got some pretty spectacular rims that are out of this world, as well as some awkward ones that we couldn’t resist including.
19 Monster Rims
Nothing says powerful energy like the Monster Energy drink logo. You can see it in this rim right at the center.
The Monster company has been producing quality energy drinks for quite a few years now but let's be honest, the symbol has a certain reputation.
This is probably why the designer or designers of this particular wheel decided to put it at the center of this rim. The symbol seems as though it was strategically placed there to suggest the notion of power and energy. The rim would look awesome on a street racing car, but we're left only to wonder why the designer decided not to go with Nos Energy instead.
18 Glowing
Most street races take place at night when the streets are deserted. Some of them take place in the day, but that won't be the focal point of this entry, as glow in the dark rims, or neon lighted rims would be a waste in the daytime. No, these rims are perfect for night racing, or simply driving around at night, and the image is nothing short of spectacular. It's very much like being at the fair or amusement park, seeing all those lit up rides under the dark night sky, mesmerizing is the word we're looking for here. Just don't drive around in bad neighbourhoods, as they are likely to call unwanted attention as well, as they are indeed quite pricey.
17 Liberty
Got a quarter? These guys do. Only it's not at the bottom of their pockets collecting lint and getting smeared with that butterscotch melting away at the bottom of your bag, it's on their wheels! Pretty amazing and ingenious, and again we have to marvel at the amazing machine work put into this. Now that's detail that we just can't get over. These rims would look good on any car, but something makes me want to say they would look really good on some American classic, maybe a muscle car. Now that would be perfection, I'd say.
16 Outrageous
Outrageous doesn't quite say it now does it? These rims would be quite at home on some ancient bicycle or unicycle out of the 1930s, but on a car? Man, they look pretty weird, and not to mention, the size of them. We here at HotCars have often featured images with tires too big for their bodies.
It's kind of like looking at a man who has giant forearms but tiny upper arms (sorry Popeye).
Not to mention, the tires themselves seem to be pretty bent out of shape as well. This only leads us to believe that the car itself was probably meant to be a joke or some promo, or at least I hope so.
15 Half & Half
Interestingly enough, this rim image calls to mind the ordering of a pizza with separate toppings. You know the deal, somebody in the room doesn't want pepperoni, and somebody else doesn't want any rabbit food (veggies) strewn atop their pie. So most times, what you get is a pizza that looks like this: one side with rounds of crisp succulent pepperoni atop the mozzarella cheese and the other side just with the veggies. This rim's designer couldn't seem to decide either, so he put both patterns on the same rim. The gold is a little ostentatious, depending on the vehicle, that is, but to each his own. Is anybody else craving pizza right about now?
14 Flaming Red
When looking at this particular rim, we're left to stare in awe at the incredible machine work put into the creation. Let's face it, these men and women surely know what they're doing, and this rim shows us the level of technique they have and utilize every day. Look at that detail and the choice of colours is downright amazing and perfect. I could just see it now, a red and white Shelby Mustang or perhaps in this case a Harley Davidson bike cruising down the street, the engine revving wonderfully over the cacophony on the street and those exact rims glistening in the sun.
13 Chrome Reflection
Chrome is a very popular choice when detailing a vehicle. Whether it's a chopper, a muscle car or a luxury vehicle, chrome wins out time and time again, people preferring the look and feel. In this case, the chrome sits well with the colour of the car and take a close look at the protrusion of the rims.
That addition alone is worth taking notice.
Furthermore, you can see the reflections from the street its on, so we know for sure the car's clean. Rims like this would be spoiled on an off-road vehicle though, so we can expect them to be quite popular among luxury street vehicles.
12 Forged In Steel
For the same reason a bodybuilder chooses to wear a cutoff shirt to display his chissled triceps and biceps, most gear heads prefer to have rims such as these, and for the particular reason of showing off their brakes. And on quality cars, you won't find any rusted brakes showing through the rims, that's for sure. Just take a look at the brakes pictured here, top of the line for sure. The rims are spaced perfectly, enabling anyone watching to see the awesome mechanics of the wheel. You might think it's weird, but gear heads can watch machinery at work for hours. These rims were designed and manufactured by the Forgiato (TM) Company.
11 Big Blue
Now rims are pretty important on street racing cars. Let's face it, they say a lot and allow others to see the detail you put into your wheel and brake system. But great and original rims aren't only good for racing cars, but also for old classics and muscle cars as well. They can make a souped up beauty like the one pictured here look all the more astounding and the aesthetics of it all really put the car itself in a category all its own. I'm a true believer in classic wheels for a classic ride, but this classic beauty is taken over the top with these types of rims, I must admit and it looks awesome.
10 Rainbow
Did you ever look at the ground after the rain and see a puddle reflecting colors? I have. Particularly when passing by a parking lot or gas station. The puddle isn't only water, however, as gas is definitely mixed in, and the gas, much like the gas and elements in the sky above us, can create this beautiful rainbow effect.
Whoever designed these rims definitely captured that effect.
Just imagine how these would look when spinning at top speeds. They'd probably be attractive enough for the Lucky Chars Leprechaun to up and chase them looking for his precious gold.
9 Sharp
I remember waking up one morning when I was a kid only to look out the window and notice that somebody had stolen the hubcaps off of my father's car. Now when I say hubcaps, I'm referencing the run of the mill hubcaps we see on most regular cars and tires. Now my dad has always taken care of his cars and well, the whole rim idea just never appealed to him, so regular run of the mill hubcaps was what he went for with his tires. But as I was standing ta that window, still groggy from sleep, the question that kept reverberating through my mind was: "Why on earth would somebody want to steal hubcaps?"
8 Mellow Yellow
Again we must marvel at the attention to detail here. This rim was machined to utter perfection and the paint job is just gorgeous. These rims would look good on a yellow Lambo, that's for sure. A note on the machining for such creations: Machining has changed over the years, and for most of you, this isn't breaking news. But these days, and for the greater part of this millennium, rims such as this are and have been machined using CNC Machining, or computer numerical control. It is awesome technology, and any online video will leave you impressed I'm sure.
7 Spike
These rims are absolutely breathtaking, I must say. The shade of red goes perfectly with the yellow of the car, the machined design is new wave and classic at the same time, but those spikes coming out of the circular center are just the perfect touch to take these rims over the edge.
The spikes actually look a little like live rounds and that too says loads (pun intended) about the car and the driver.
So admire them from afar, as you shouldn't get too close.
6 Electric Blue
Colour choice is pretty important when customizing your vehicle for whatever reason, whether it be for racing or simply cruising and showing your piece of art at car shows. Colour schemes and deciding what shades go better together becomes as important to you as it does for an interior decorator and there's no way around it. There's nothing worse than seeing a souped up car that has colours strewn across it that don't complement each other, that's for sure. In the picture above this person definitely knew what he/she was doing when putting these colours together, as it looks great and the colours match perfectly.
5 Hypnotizing
Sometimes a little simplicity can sure go a long way. What I mean when I say simplicity, I'm obviously talking about the colours, because the detail and design sure isn't simple and I'm sure it wasn't that simple to execute, that's for sure. The detail is indeed magnificent and actually quite pretty to look at, but what more, it's quite hypnotizing to look at. Don't stare at it too long, as you might space out. And figure this, it looks hypnotizing sitting still, imagine when they're spinning! Now that would be a trip, no wouldn't it?
4 Deep Rims
Well, yellow seems to be a pretty popular colour for these vehicles, but the plethora of colours used for the rims is definitely astounding. The hot pink colour here definitely complements the car, and look here, these rims have those live round shaped spikes as well.
But what definitely stands out in this image is how deep the rims go, creating a deep set space that adds to the illusion of the car.
The rims are indeed wider and that can add or take away from the allure of a vehicle, but in this case it really works in favour of the car as opposed to the negative.
3 Rims Galore
Really, at the end of the day, motorists and car enthusiasts have a plethora of designs to choose from. With CNC technology being what it is today, really, the sky is definitely the limit. We're talking custom designs, featuring whatever inlay a client could imagine and colors ranging from anything you could conjure up in your minds. These rims are a perfect way to bring the designs of your vehicles from the drawing room floor and onto the streets where your peers can admire your work, and let's face it, the rims are a big part of the reason why cars are so eye-catching in the first place.
2 Copper
Now here is something we don't see every day, but it does the trick quite nicely. Chrome and painted rims are definitely the forerunners when it comes to rim design and they obviously have the edge by the sheer volume of rims out there with those specifications, but chrome is rare enough to merit a mention here--at least the rarity of them, that is. Now what's unclear, specifically, is if the rims are merely painted like that, or if they were actually machined out of copper? That is in fact the glaring question, isn't it? They may simply be copper-plated, but it isn't clear exactly. Interestingly enough, OCC the Chopper manufacturer once built an entire bike out of copper, rims included, so anything is possible.
1 Drag
And all this talk about rims on muscle cars, off-roaders, luxury cars; even toy cars, and we forgot to mention drag cars. Drag vehicles are often forgotten, but we should not leave out these magnificent beasts, as they are indeed quite powerful. And if you doubt us, just take a look at some video footage of these races and you should be amazed.
For the sake of the theme of this article, pay close attention to those rims as they too are indeed an awesome and interesting piece of metal in their own right.
Full of detail and precise designs, they too belong on this list.
Sources: Yandex.ru, StreetAttackLife.com, Fourtitude.com