I have been considering getting a set of American Racing 200s rims. However, I have recently discovered that they are polished alloy and not chromed.

My question is, what are the pros and cons for choosing chrome or polished rims? Why would I want one or the other. I currently have the OEM rims which are chromed (16 X 8).

Thanks in advance

 

Chrome wheels are easier to take care of, and look a little better. If you live in a cold area, though, you really have to clean them every day, to prevent corrosion. You could also take them off when it gets cold. I would definitely go with chrome if you have a choice.

 

Jack is right, chrome does look better (IMO) and is much much easier to clean than polished. You asked for the pro's and cons though, so I gotta be fair. Jack is also right with cleaning them...you got to be careful with chrome...even though your wheels now may be fine, different companies chrome plate in different ways, so you gotta be careful with them...

On polished...the good thing is, they are the same throughout (or can be polished throughout to look the same...) You never have to worry about chipping or corrosion that much, because you can always polish them back out...which is the con. Polishing wheels takes f...o...r...e...v...e...r! It is a really slow process, but you can polish them to the point of looking extremely high luster...

 

Polished will never peel or corrode. You can always polish your wheels, but when the chrome starts peeling on the chromed wheels, you have to get them rechromed. If you keep polished wheels clean and don't let them get oxidized, them they are not hard to keep shiny.

-Shawn

P.S. Here is a pic of my last 25th anniversary TA convertible with TTII's polished. These wheels are about a year old and have lost a tiny bit of shine, but they still look awesome!

http://www.ayresweb.com/tt2_new.jpg

 

LOL, hey Shawn, you talkin' about the TT2's that are on MY car now? Don't worry dude, I restored the shine quite nicely, insides too!

- Brent

 

Brent,

lol....Like I said, they looked awesome, just not out of the box brand new. I have actually been looking for another set of those wheels. I just bought another 94 TA 25th Anniversary convertible. It has 17x9.5 Fikse FM-10's on it right now with 275/40/17 Goodyear Eagle F1's on it. I'm not sure I like my new wheels yet though, so I'm actively looking for another set of TTII's.

Here's a link where I bought my new car:

http://cars-on-line.com/94ta9001.html

and my home page:

http://www.ayresweb.com

You need to get some good pics of your car and put them up on your cardomain site. I still haven't seen a pic of those wheels on your car yet! (You wanna sell 'em back to me?)

-Shawn

 

Hey man, why'd you sell the one you had and buy the basic same thing?

Yeah tell you what, I'll trade you straight up for the Fikse's. You can keep your tires, and I'll keep the Kumho's that are on the TT2's.

I've been procrastinating for a while on the pics, as soon as I get 'er cleaned up again I'll steal my bro-in-law's digital camera and get some up.

- Brent