If I were going with gloss black wheels, I would probably do something like Matt did to his SP500's. Subtle, with just a little contrast.

 

After reading all of the posts and looking back at all of the pictures, I think you would be better served in the C7 forum. The C5 allows for a much broader wheel choice than the C7 because of its rounded design and lack of trim. The only design of wheel that I’ve seen here that might look better is the tinted black. I can’t look at a wheel on a C5 and even visualize it on a C7.

 

My favorite oem wheels are the black “cup” wheels. I know they are only available in certain fitments and IIRC 19” front & 20” rear, however the overall aesthetic works for me. In the overall scheme sometimes black wheels at first seem a void or “low detail” component however my OCD draws me to detail and I appreciate the design. Little things like contrasting lug nuts or center cap emblem can make a difference. Just my $0.02

 

Love it, looks like my ray.

 

Just adding some personal thoughts here and content to the C5 gen. forum.. Without disrespecting, anyone's personal choice on their car or wheel choice or color , I will say this ; This thread has been helpful to my mind set.. As stated before, I do not like the Murdered look.... everything black.
Black wheels on an all black car reminds me of the 50's and sixties were people would dark primer their car and paint the wheels black to hid all of its flaws. I will say this, since viewing all of these cars, my red and black C7 looks really great with black wheels compared to an all black car with black wheels.. This is my personal opinion.. which really should not mean much to anyone, its just my opinion.

BTW I " am" in fact, warming up to the look of my black wheels. Not totally there yet but much better than a few weeks ago. Thanks for all of the civil content by the members participating in this discussion. Atleast we all agree that no one wants a cookie cutter Corvette, no matter what the generation.

ON a side note, I was out in my wifes car yesterday and found myself behind a C7. First time in this position on the road... AS I looked at a sea of cars around me. coming and going and ahead of the c7 infront of me. I could not help but notice just how low wide and exotic it look from directly behind it.. My wifes car sits high to the ground which made it even more dramatic.. with all the other Euro Asian cars that all seemed to blend together, the C7 stood out like a supper car. Sound ( right infront of me ) low and wide, fat tires, all added to the unmistakable look.

Just some thoughts
Bill

 

When I was heading to Carlisle last weekend I saw quite a few C7's on the road & I must admit they do have that unique design that catches your attention, most of what I saw were Z06 & Grandsports, and I have a full size GMC truck so sitting up high does give you a different perspective of the car, best in motion.

 

What caught my eye was the wide amount of fender on either side of a rear hatch window.. the proportions are very exotic.

 

Wow.. Your black C5 with those wheels is gorgeous!... Background not so much Please post again with a suitable background... Wish mine was black. 😃

 

Thanks. I know it's not for everybody and that's cool.

Haha so true. Cluttered garage is not ideal for sure.

 

Before and after...the wheel gets lost in the tire!

 

This has been a good thread, mostly from Bill's in depth analysis on something seemingly simple as wheel color. That being said and comparing his red C7 to 04zjimc silver Z above, I make the following observations:

1) yes the black wheel may get lost or be tough to photograph, but IMO flows better with the car as a whole as it makes you draw your eyes more to the car having black accents from the rear lower valence and the black rear brake ducts. The red tail lights play off the brake calipers and the hint of red in the front fender stripes.

2) the picture with the "silver-ish" forgestars throw me for a loop. I find my eyes wandering between the wheels and the car. Then there is the random orange accent from the front blinker. IMO a turn signal blackout kit would work well to hide that orange accent and it's unfortunate NY has to run front plates The concavity difference front to back also plays with my eyes as I prefer a more even/symmetric look.

Good looking car, don't get me wrong, just not what is sitting in my garage which is also a 04 silver Z. I actually just had 18x10.5 black c6Z wheels delivered today getting 285/35/18 tires tomorrow to keep the even/balanced look front to back. My stock speediness had been chromes before I bought the car at which point the chrome was feeling so the PO plastidipped the wheels black. Initially I thought it made the car look cheap since he also did the center caps. I have redone them, smoothed the bubbling chrome and left the center circle of (believe it or not) Camaro SS wheels which have a red bow tie in the middle. So the wheel is black with a small silver circle and red bow tie in the middle. Breaks up the ALL BLACK just enough.

 

The color on the wheel is glossy gun metal grey..then i ceramic coated the wheels and made them darker..hard to see in pics but there is a big color difference between the wheels and paint..

 

that's exactly my feeling with black wheels, you can have a $200 or $2000 wheel, if it's not an the right angle, with ideal lighting, they'll look exactly the same. so you might as well powdercoat some stocks.

For example, they shadows would annihilate my wheels here, and lose them in the wheel wells if it was black.

 

^ You also have a very busy wheel with more material. So if it was black, yes it would be hard to see the detail. But again, do you make wheel selection based on how the car photographs or how it looks in person? lol

I think wheel design needs to be factored in when discussing black wheels. Gloss black CCW classics (busy) would not be a great idea, but gloss black C6z wheels or Forgestar CF5 (simple) would be good.

 

I really think the 'black wheels disappear' is more a result of how poorly they photograph, than anything else. They can and often do look good in person, if you look right at them your eyes adjust and sees the contrast with the tire, brake rotor, caliper, lug nuts etc. If you are looking generally at the entirety of the car then the black wheels certainly get 'washed out'.

cameras do not photograph wide range very well, even in 'HDR' the results are sketchy. See this old article, especially point 3.
https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...-human-eye.htm



Now check out pics of my car,
here is one with the wheels fairly 'washed out' due to camera/computer screen limitations. this was taken in HDR on my cam phone. Can't see much detail.


here is a little better due to lighting, more detail emerges, looking a bit better:


and finally, here is the 'best' pic I've been able to take of these wheels. Still not very good, contrast is poor.



Now, these wheels look awesome in person!! but they photograph rather flat and boring (limited by tech and the user of course).

So in the end, go with what looks 'good' to you. if you like to look @ pics & post pics of your car, avoid black as it's hard to photograph. If you enjoy looking at it in person, then have another look at black.

my 2c

 

It may be of no interest to many C5'ers that the C8 will not be available with chrome/polished wheels. (not to mention a manual trans)

 

My take.. Black mags on a black C5/C6 are the absolutely perfect and ONLY car for a total "blacked-out" (black on black on black or triple black) look... That's If I wanted a black mags Corvette.. I don't.. Therefore I'll Never never own a Corvette C7.. Because C7 wheels don't look good black or chrome. Unless it's a yellow racecar! 😁

 

Haven't seen somebody say "mags" since I was a wee tyke. Now that's old school.

 

Yes and rims vs. wheels is another one that get me. Back in my " YUTT " my cousin Vinny.... rims where those black things that people covered with hub caps. When you bought wheels or mags,, there was a clear and distinct difference.. since rims where about ten dollars then and wheels or mags were 10 X that. again, back in my yutt.
Bill

"Counselor, what did you say? " Your Honor, these two Yutts . Did You say Yutts.

 

Chrome reversed wheels with baby moon hubcaps definately gave you a wider stance and a cleaner smoother look to the wheels and were a staple for hot rods and muscle cars in the 50-60-and 70's here in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. They were easy to dismantle and chrome and every one had them. On the stonger vehicles it was 15" (yes 15") on the rear, 13" on the front and then take a large crowbar and flip your rear leaf spring hangers to raise the rear end in order to keep your front wheels on the ground on WOT in 1st gear. That was hot rodding.... times have changed!!