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Not to ruffle any feathers, but can someone please explain how the popularity has risen so well for black wheels?
Absolutely no disrespect to those who own them and like them, heck I have them on mine but just don't care for them, l just can't figure how they became so popular...
To me, and again absolutely no disrespect, they resemble a car that's missing hubcaps.
Is it that they resemble NASCAR racing, or something like that? How did they become so popular? And what is the attraction?
Black wheels have been popular for > 10 years. I am not usually a fan of them as I think the design gets "lost" and under appreciated, but they came on my Shark Gray Z06 and don't mind them at all. I think my car looks much more aggressive with the black wheels. The car would still look good with silver wheels, just not as "mean."
That said, I just ordered new wheels today (they arrive tomorrow!) and they are not black. I wouldn't want to pay money for black wheels that would go unnoticed. I am okay with the OEM wheels being black because that's how they came.
Now, can someone explain to me the appeal of CHROME wheels? Those are just an eyesore to me.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or something like that.
Yes, I absolutely agree, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Beauty in the eye if the beholder is the obvious answer, and first thing that comes to mind, of course. I just can't figure how black wheels became popular... where the popularity came from, what it originated from.
Some sort of popularity of drag racing, road racing, NASCAR, etc... the "typical" color of wheels found in motorsports racing??
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Last edited by HorsePower Junkie; Oct 10, 2018 at 01:39 AM.
Yes, I absolutely agree, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I just can't figure how black wheels became popular... where the popularity came from, what it originated from.
Some sort of wheels found in drag racing, road racing, NASCAR, etc??
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Same question could be asked about bronze, gold, or just about any other color wheels. Here in SoCal, I often see pink, green, blue, etc. wheels. Not my cup of tea, but certainly someone else's apparently.
With arctic white they create a striking contrast along with the black trim. It makes the paint pop. With a black car it creates a somewhat menacing look.
I chose black because I didn't like silver painted or chrome. If there were a machined or brushed aluminum or similar option, I might have considered that. For my 2017 AW, I felt black looked the best compared to silver painted or chrome. However if I like the C8 ME, I might not pick black again but try something new.
If wheel/tire advertisement and automotive media in general is any indicator, it would seem that the popularity of black wheels is on the decline from what it has been in recent years, which is the typically the course of fads.
Though I feel black wheels offer little if anything to improve the design of a C7, as they tend to blend into the dark wheelwell from any distance, any feature or option that helps set C7s apart from one another is a good thing in my opinion.
base painted black wheels a $495 option; coordinate with almost all finishes better than the no-cost standard silver painted wheels
chrome wheels a $1995 option.
i am not dissing silver painted wheels, i had them on a silver c6 vert and they were a perfect match for the body color.
i like the way the black wheels highlight the red calipers, match the black trim pieces on the C7; and the base silver wheels didn't look as good to me on Torch Red. Both options, black wheels and red calipers, were less ($1090), than Chrome wheels alone.
i also had chrome wheels before, thinking the chrome was indestructable, only to find that Brembo competition brake pad dust left too long on them etched the chrome.
Not sure how they became so popular. Probably just like anything else. Parachute pants and Cabbage Patch dolls were once very popular as well.
When I had my Camaro SS 1LE it came with black wheels and red calipers I thought it looked awesome at the time. I have a C7 Stingray now with machined faced wheels with black painted pockets. I don’t particularly care for them, they remind me of a Honda Accord wheel from a distance as the machine faced twin spokes look too shiny to me. Nowadays, I prefer a graphite or nickel color so they are not too shiny but also have enough contrast with the tire and wheel well so that you can actually see the wheel design. I went with the pearl nickel for my GS and think they are a good compromise and they don’t cost any extra.
Because this would look like crap with silver or chrome wheels
well I wouldn't say it looks like crap.. cause I'm sure many others with the orange chose a diff color wheel.
OP: I had black wheels on a 350z years ago and said to myself I wanted to try something new also cause I knew many others would go for the traditional red/white/blue color combo with the black wheels (as per GM's promo photos of the GS), so I went with the pearl nickel aluminum but every so often I'd look at her and wish I had black wheels (mainly for contrast and to make myself feel better about the brake dust). I also regret not getting the red seat belt option
It's like anything else. Styles and preferences change. Short skirts, long skirts. Narrow tires, wide ties. Long hair, short hair. Who knows what's next? Various colored wheels are also gaining popularity with the young crowd. Will be interesting to see if chrome fades away as our generation dies off. I'm 69. I prefer a basic silver painted wheel, probably due to driving European cars for many years.
Personally, I am not a black wheel fan. So, when I purchased our 2019 GS last week, I ordered a set of Machined Faced Cup Wheels to replace the black ones that came on the car. Those have already been tentatively sold and will be shipped out sometime late next week .
Everyone likes different things which makes seeing everyone's pictures cool to look at. Black rims on a car have been around since the Model T was first created so they are nothing new. If you look at old pictures it looks like there were different variations from raw wood to painted to black. The "murdered out" look (black on black on black) has been around forever as well. Trends come and go, old fads become new again etc etc. It seems like many people purchase white cars nowadays when 20 or 30 years ago they were not as prevalent.
Can somebody explain this, please
