New Wheel Attire

No single vehicle modification is as popular or as immediate as changing your wheels and tires. It's often the first thing people notice when they check out a customized ride—or the only thing that makes them notice it at all.


It's not just a difference in size, although that is important, but a change in shape and texture as well can create a huge impact. So, combining all those elements in an integrated way is important in deciding on the right wheel and tire package.

Street Style
As an example, check out the "before" and "after" photos of the Hummer H2 shown here. The stock, 17-inch wheels are intriguing with a somewhat dull finish but an interesting surface detail that fits nicely with its "urban assault" exterior design. The "after" shots show it with rims from legendary street rod builder Boyd Coddington. He's known for his exotic custom creations, but also produces a wide range of wheels, including those for trucks and SUVs. These T47-Hot Rod 8 wheels are not necessarily for the hard-core off-road enthusiast. On the other hand, they clearly add some visual snap and excitement to the vehicle due in part to the fact that they're one inch larger in diameter. The tire size is slightly smaller than stock, however, so they overall diameter ends up the same.


A taller rim often is more noticeable and more dramatic. When you opt for taller rims and fit them with lower-profile tires as shown here, and thus retain the same overall tire diameter as stock, this is known as plus sizing. What that means is you won't have to recalibrate your speedometer or worry about any computer issues. (Some computers need to be reprogrammed to accept a tire that isn't stock size.)

Plus One
When you swap to a taller wheel and a lower-profile tire, you also improve the vehicle's handling. Plus sizing shortens the distance between the wheel and the road surface, which provides quicker steering response. However, there can be a tradeoff: Low-profile tires may adversely affect ride quality, which means an increase in harshness. To be more specific, "Plus One" refers to increasing the wheel diameter by one inch without changing the overall diameter of the wheel-and-tire package. Taking that further, "Plus Two" sizing refers to increasing the wheel diameter by two inches while retaining the same overall diameter of the wheel-and-tire package. Of course, you can also fit those taller wheels with a taller tire to better fill your vehicle's wheelwells. A taller wheel-and-tire combo may require lifting the suspension, or even modifying the wheelwells for sufficient clearance.