Beginner’s Guide: Are Aftermarket Wheels Worth It?!

As you contemplate buying rims for your Civic to help enhance its appearance and improve other aspects of your drive, a key question arises ” Are Aftermarket Wheels Worth it?!” In today’s article, we explore some primary considerations and the pros and cons involved before choosing an ideal set of rims for your Civic.

Basics

Please bear with us here as we get a touch technical. When considering a car – there are two weights involved. Sprung weight and Unsprung weight. The sprung weight deals with any weight that is supported by the suspension. Any unsupported mass is referred to as “unsprung” weight such as the wheels, axles, differentials, etc…

Adding more unsprung weight impacts the car in several ways, most notably with performance, handling and even fuel economy. Importantly though, the rotating mass of your tire gets more difficult to turn with added weight. This means using heavier wheels and tires at the four corners of the car (where the wheels are placed normally) has a significantly negative impact.

As a result, when considering aftermarket wheels, it is critical to consider the use of wheels that are lighter than the original OEM standard wheels present. To better understand the different types of aftermarket wheels, check our beginner’s guide to aftermarket wheels here.

Interference

Now that we understand that lighter wheels are the preferred choice, we need to still further evaluate and ask ourselves “are aftermarket wheels worth it” still? What you need to bear in mind is that manufacturers spend a lot of time engineering the right size wheel to come standard with your Civic. They factor in ride comfort, performance, handling and fuel economy to maximise these attributes to their customers.

Whether you elect to change your stock rims to undersized or oversized tires, keep in mind the interfering components such as the wheel well, brake rotors and discs, and suspension components that can severely impact your Civic’s ride quality and performance.

Cost/Benefit Analysis

As enthusiasts, we don’t usually factor in the cost attached to making changes to our Civic. Our temptation leans more towards the benefits of aesthetic appeal and personalization that allow us to share with the world a little more about ourselves. As such, this can have short-term benefits, with long-term implications.

With a good quality rim averaging in excess of 150 dollars a rim and upwards, you need to see that after you have a set on and then add the cost of rubber to match you can easily stretch the cost to well over a thousand dollars, to begin with. So then you need to ask yourself again “Are aftermarket wheels worth it?!”

Resale Value

As much as your Civic will be appreciated for standing out with good-looking rims and wheels, there could be scepticism from future buyers. These buyers might question the reason behind the added rims – was it because you took it out to the track often? Or perhaps you were tempted to do some street racing seeing as you have the light alloy wheels and thinner tires? Although this may seem like a stretch, this could possibly affect the resale value of your car in the future. In which case, once again you need to ask yourself ” Are aftermarket wheels worth it?!”

Final Thoughts

There is no right or wrong when it comes to asking yourself “Are aftermarket wheels worth it?!” You simply need to bear in mind the points mentioned above and factor them in. We definitely believe aftermarket wheels have many benefits to make your Civic look better, with improved ride handling in many cases.

We suggest you consider buying from reputed suppliers and distributors from renowned alloy manufacturers such as BBS, OZ Racing, Enkei, etc…