Wheel Categorization

Wheel Categorization 

I discovered in the beginning of this project the sub trend of wheel choice within the car scene as a way in which to really express individual styles of car styling. 

Going through the collection of photographs through the numerous shows and events I went too I kept collecting examples of wheel design on all sorts of cars, race cars, drift cars and show cars. To narrow down and specify my collection I am going to order all the photos of wheels I found into some further sub categories.

When grouping the wheels together I will consider the visual elements of the wheel like the colors and the shape and design of the wheel and describe some wheels in further detail that I can recognize and research into. 

The bellow wheel examples were collected together for there trend in colour, gold seems to be a popular wheel colour choice for alot of cars at these events, there was no set type of car it was used on either. It appeared on race cars as well as modern show cars and old classic restoration show cars.

Carrying on the gold theme onto this completely different wheel style, based on a retro design originating from old 1980s BMW the BBS split has many versions, alterations and different brand copys but they all share the same 2 piece design style. As the idea of a show car follows more form than function the wheel doesn't need to be "strong" as such so a versatile construction method of creating the wheel from an outer drum thats surrounded by the car tyre and the inner face in this case the gold is bolted up to the barrel. This gives a very distinct style with visible bolts and a symmetrical spirograph type of pattern on the face of the wheel. 


This example is an inverted example of the standard BBS split, the inner face has been inverted and mounted on the outside of the barrel giving off a "bulge" rather than a concave effect like the standard construction method. Personally I don't like this construction method but it obviously makes these type of cars stand out a little more. 




Carrying on the BBS split in different color schemes the bellow examples contrast well with the monochromatic paint of the car bodies. Grey and silver hues causes a nice contrast of tone making the wheels "pop" and stand out alot more. 






The bellow examples are unknown wheels to me they seem to follow a similar 2 piece design construction but with a more solid face on the inner of the wheel. 




The following wheels are categorized through colour choice, the wheel designs are completely different but the red colour choice to me is more of an impact choice to draw attention in, the cars that had these type of colour choice wheels were cars with race elements. The red to me kind of hides the actual design elements of the wheel, the shapes of the wheel don't appear as obvious as they would if it was more a neutral and subtle colour. 




The following wheel choices is a no brainer for there intended use, a thin simple single spoke 1 piece wheel was used on all the race cars and race intended cars. I know a fair bit about this type of wheel, they are forged out of one solid piece of metal, usually a lightweight material like aluminum or titanium (Very expensive). This gives the wheel alot of strength so it can take the abuse the car goes through in terms of speed, breaking and potential crashes. 

The negative space between the spokes while aiding appearance serves a purpose too, when racing the brakes become extremely hot so the space between the spokes allow air to cool the brakes down. Hot brakes effect braking so they need to be kept as cool as possible. 

Most of the race cars I saw had these wheels on in standard neutral monochromatic colors but a few cars had wheels to match the whole colour scheme of the car. 














The following few wheels are a more show style wheel in my opinion, like the race wheels above they are forged out of a solid block but have alot less spokes, I don't think this is for the same purpose for cooling the brakes down I think its just a more aesthetic minimal design element as the cars that they were on were very simple in there modifications and were all luxury cars like top end Mercedes, Audis and VWs. So a minimal, clean wheel would compliment the whole luxury image of the whole car, so rather than contrasting the wheel is meant to work alongside the other car modifications. 




This wheel follows the same minimal spoke but goes back to the 2 piece design BBS used in the 1980s, after speaking to the owner of this car and speaking to him a little about the car the wheels came of a Ferrari 308, a mid engined sports car made from 1975-1985. So the 2 piece wheel design must have been a trend back then in luxury high end car production. 

I like the touch of luxury the owner of this BMW E30 has added to his car in such a subtle way, if i wasn't to speak to him about the car I wouldn't have realized where these wheels originated from. They cost him over £2000 in buying and refurbishing. 


These wheel styles vary greatly but follow the same construction method of twin spokes, some spokes flow parallel some flair outwards to create a star effect creating interesting shapes and designs I personally don't like this style I like the ones hat are more simple and clean.


Like these, they have a very nice aesthetic image while maintaining a race purpose. They come off a new BMW M3 CSL, and they have been put on an old BMW E46 M3 a car known for its racing pedigree. I like the combination of a new wheel design on an old car on a race car. On show cars it seems to be the trend to put old retro wheels onto newer cars, so this is an interesting contrast. Modern materials on this wheel obviously aid the cars performance (Lightness, air venting to brakes, strength).


They are a more "standard" type of wheel, unlike other aftermarket brands that owners put on there cars these wheels come standard from the manufacturers on luxury high end models like Bentleys, Mercedes and Audis. 






This type of wheel is a real up and comer within the modified car scene. The below wheels are either the iconic Volk TE37 wheel or other manufacturers attempts to create this amazing race bred wheel. 

Its a wheel that is again forged out of one piece of Aluminum or Titanium. Created by a company called RAYS engineering established in 1973 a Japanese manufacturer of high quality wheels for the intended use of racing. All top race teams around the world rely on there wheels so it was no surprise to see them on some of the street based race cars. the drift cars and the Time Attack race cars.


I like the contrast of white and blue here its a simple colour palette but the simple lines and design of the wheel compliments the cars body shape. 




I noticed on some time attack cars the focus isn't to make a very striking and high impact car through the use of colors, the cars rely on sponsors so the use of simple white on white here allows more focus on the numerous sponsor stickers on the car.










Contrasting from the Time Attack cars this drift car with the iconic TE37 wheel goes against subtlety with garish patterns and bright colour schemes creating a very high impact. 

This is something I want to analyze further, comparing everything about what makes a Time attack car, Show car and Drift car. Be it colors, designs, technical details, influences etc. Its something else for me to stem from to round up all the information I gathered into something more specific for the presentation.


To round of the review of wheels I will quickly sum up the 2 examples here. I saw a few "super cars" at these events. These two, an Audi R8 and a Lamborghini Galardo are extremely expensive car both exceeding £150'000 at current second hand value. 

Onto the styling of them though, the body styling of the cars is very extreme, its there to make an impact, aggressive design elements, bright colors, loud engines, high speed, expensive construction materials. All these extreme and expensive elements need to be communicated in every aspect, so these abstract shaped wheels really express these cars individuality. 

I personally hate them, there far too "showy" what i mean by this is they have too much going on, there angular, random and to me look quite cheap which goes against the purpose of the cars image.