Which do you feel is more important if you can have only one: Looks Or Handling?

[Fly2High]

I read about all these threads looking to put on bigger tires, larger rims, change the offset all in the name of how the car looks. No regard for what those changes do to the performance of the car.

If you could only have one, which is more important to you:

1. The way the car looks with a set of wheels
2. The way the set of wheels makes the car handle

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[Schwerin]

If you cant back up the looks, its just rice.

 

[samd1351]

I voted for performance first, but you need a third option, "It depends"

If you're not going for a performance enhancement, but just want a different look, that's not rice, that's just an appearance change. Maybe you don't like the black wheels that came on it and want to change them out, or, you don't have the black wheels and really want them.

Would anyone really put a set of butt ass ugly wheels on their car but by god they are the lightest bestest wheels ever made? Unless you're car is a dedicated track car, the previous statement stands. IMHO anyway.

 

[BmacIL]

Handling/performance > all

If you can get good looks while doing it, bonus. Most options out there offer both. There are a plethora of great looking 19x11 wheels with proper offsets to run square.

 

[Fly2High]

I voted for performance first, but you need a third option, "It depends"

If you're not going for a performance enhancement, but just want a different look, that's not rice, that's just an appearance change. Maybe you don't like the black wheels that came on it and want to change them out, or, you don't have the black wheels and really want them.

Would anyone really put a set of butt ass ugly wheels on their car but by god they are the lightest bestest wheels ever made? Unless you're car is a dedicated track car, the previous statement stands. IMHO anyway.

If you did not change the performance, you still put performance ahead of looks. There was just no change in performance which was a conscience decision. you made sure performance did not change when doing a cosmetic alteration. Now, if in changing the looks, you chose to alter the width and change the offset only to get the tires to fill the wheel well or to look bigger in the wheel well, that is putting looks before performance. On the other hand, if you found out that increasing the track width on one axle resulted in a desirable performance alteration, then changing offset is valid.

 

[Monopoly]

I would rather own a $hitbox that was fast, handled amazing and was fun to drive over some polished turd that looked good.

 

[samd1351]

I would rather own a $hitbox that was fast, handled amazing and was fun to drive over some polished turd that looked good.

Well, my days of driving shitboxes are long over. It doesn't really matter how fast it is, a shitbox is still a shitbox. If it's really performance above all else, how come we aren't all driving 40 year old Vegas with 900 hp small blocks, or tuned to shit Miatas? Because these cars look good. So appearance does count. And I think it counts more than a lot of people like to admit.

@BmacIL is correct, there are lot of options that will fill both looks and performance. I just think it's a little unrealistic for most people on here to say they chose this wheel over that one based SOLELY on the performance of the wheel.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[BmacIL]

Well, my days of driving shitboxes are long over. It doesn't really matter how fast it is, a shitbox is still a shitbox. If it's really performance above all else, how come we aren't all driving 40 year old Vegas with 900 hp small blocks, or tuned to shit Miatas? Because these cars look good. So appearance does count. And I think it counts more than a lot of people like to admit.

@BmacIL is correct, there are lot of options that will fill both looks and performance. I just think it's a little unrealistic for most people on here to say they chose this wheel over that one based SOLELY on the performance of the wheel.

Just my 2 cents.

A "tuned to shit" GT will easily beat a spec Miata racecar, driven well. Also, I'd rather have a car that is fun all the time, not just on the racetrack.

 

[Silver Bullitt]

Hey, I had a '72 Vega wagon with a 327. It wasn't a shitbox and would scare the bijeezus out of you when you punched it at 60 mph.

 

[JohnDoe]

LOOKS

I don't give a damn if all of a sudden I woke up one day with a naturally aspirated 1.8L under the hood and it takes my beautiful car 11 seconds to reach 60mph while getting incredible mileage, as long as she stays looking sexy.

This is why most people don't buy shit box looking 12 second sleepers

 

[Monopoly]

Well, my days of driving shitboxes are long over. It doesn't really matter how fast it is, a shitbox is still a shitbox. If it's really performance above all else, how come we aren't all driving 40 year old Vegas with 900 hp small blocks, or tuned to shit Miatas? Because these cars look good. So appearance does count. And I think it counts more than a lot of people like to admit.

@BmacIL is correct, there are lot of options that will fill both looks and performance. I just think it's a little unrealistic for most people on here to say they chose this wheel over that one based SOLELY on the performance of the wheel.

Just my 2 cents.

Reliability and practicality. Mustang is one of the best bang for your bucks!

 

[Ewheels]

Every race car is a show car but not all show cars are race cars....

 

[samd1351]

Every race car is a show car but not all show cars are race cars....

Not bad. I like it.

 

[Fly2High]

LOOKS

I don't give a damn if all of a sudden I woke up one day with a naturally aspirated 1.8L under the hood and it takes my beautiful car 11 seconds to reach 60mph while getting incredible mileage, as long as she stays looking sexy.

This is why most people don't buy shit box looking 12 second sleepers

Then why do they make cars that look bad? I think most people care what their car looks like. By your logic, no one would buy ugly cars but they do.

Especially in this world where we are quickly having every car looks like a box on stilts, we may have no choice what a car looks like. Eventually those boxes on stilts will also have big performance. Cannot get uglier than that.

So you are saying that if a car looked sexy but drove like crap, you would own it? I am asking about the focus on tires, not power. Would you put tires/wheels on your car that would make the car impossible to drive just so it would look good to you? Looks are subjective, I know and I am sure not all 'looks' result in a poor driving car. I am saying what is your desired look resulted in poorer performance. Would you keep it that way or would you change it?

To me this becomes a self governing issue. If you camber the car to hell, push out the tires too far, put too large a wheel or too small a tire profile, eventually, you will have a tire issue or require accident avoidance and the car will be totaled since it cannot handle. We all see low profile tire blow out from potholes, overly cambered cars drive lousy, or changes to track width result in car that only the pro drivers can control. Yet by many, they all looked good. One less car that looked good but handled like crap off the road.

The car's ability to handle well is your first line of safety. If you can avoid an accident through the use of steering, braking and sometimes the liberal use of power, you and your car get to drive another day.

IMHO.

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