My new Eco Diesel

[Draigflag]

Decided it was time to ditch the red wheels. I'd never really taken to them, probably because the red was an entirely different shade to the bodywork. Anyway picked up these sweet looking "Audi R8" style wheels from my local powder coating contact who said I could pick a colour. I chose gloss black to match the finish on the exterior bumpers/trim, and interior too. I think they look much better and give the car a more sportier aggressive look. At £180 for the set, they are the best bargain I will get this year. I wrapped them in cheap rubber, but the tyres looks very decent for the money. I wont save any money at the pumps though, as they are only rated E or F for fuel usage. I did consider swapping for a smaller rim, but decided style was more important than the pennies I'd probably save at the pumps! I'll take some proper pictures when the car's been cleaned up as it's a bit of a mess.

Now I've got a red/black theme going, I'm contemplating whether or not to have parts of the car wrapped. I thought the chrome side strips would look cool in gloss black or maybe carbon. Maybe the roof or rear spoiler? I'm getting the windows tinted black in the next few weeks too. What do you think?

[benlovesgoddess]

It's hard to say! Personally, my favourite colour is the Mazda 2 vivid green. Not a fan of red, except where it belongs - on Alfa Romeos - but your car suits it well. I was thinking of a respray or wrap in 3 years, but heard they are over £2,000....! I like as much chrome as possible, will the bump strips look plastic of redone in back? On 4 vehicles (up till my "Jag" and i20) I used to (badly) apply huge vinyl flames leading back from the front wheels to past the drivers door, a Nissan Terrano, Citroen Xantia estate, ZX hatch and (briefly) a VW Polo all were jazzed up in this way. So I'm no benchmark of style. I also used to sport a jolly roger on an old football window flag pole, till the missus put a stop to it. Maybe the clientele of Max Power are better suited to style tips than the Fuelly gang!
Oh, some Volvo estates a while back had completely black tailgate doors, I always thought that looked a bit foxy. Completely wrap the boot door in black? Probably a terrible idea!

[Draigflag]

Haha huge flames? I think we are on different pages when it comes to styling by the sounds of things, no disrespect! Appreciate the ideas though, i'll come up with somthing im sure. There's a fine line between cool and utter tack, but at the end of the day, its not lifes biggest mistake if it turns out utter trash, the ideas I had in mind are all peelable anyway if you get my drift, nothing lost but time.

[Draigflag]

Wheels looking uber cool after I washed the car today. They just seem to have transformed the looks entirely

[Jcp385]

Nice look! Any change in tyre size? Hopefully they don't add any aero drag.

I really do like the look - and at that price it certainly is a bargain, powder coated and all.

[Draigflag]

No I matched the tyre profile so as not to affect the economy, steering feel etc. Have to admit, my friend accidentally left 50 PSI in them from when he popped them on. Some people recommend running at this pressure for best economy. After driving a few miles with them like that, I wouldn't recommend it at all! There's so little tyre in contact with the road, the steering becomes very numb, and grip is sacrificed too. Really not worth sacrificing safety for economy in my opinion.

The only annoying thing was that as they weren't official Renault wheels, I needed spigot rings so they would fit the hub, but like you say, can't complain at that price.

[Draigflag]

Well I knew there would be a catch buying second hand wheels. At 70 Mph I was getting a slight vibration through the steering wheel, nothing catastrophic but noticeable and God knows how bad it would be at 80+ on the motorway. Had my mate rebalanced them and he found one of the wheels had a slight buckle in it. He's now put that on the back so hopefully the vibration will be less noticeable. If it persists, I may have to get a different set, or put the old ones back on. Any idea what the long term affect this could have? Extra strain on the bearing perhaps?

[Draigflag]

Today I got the rear windows tinted to continue the gloss black theme. Obviously it's illegal to have the fronts tinted here. I think it looks great, gives the car a more aggressive look. It only cost £110, modifying doesn't have to be expensive, I got tints, wheels and tyres all for less than £500.

[OliverGT]

Would you look at getting all the chrome parts in black to match the wheel. That could look quite good.

Oliver.

[Draigflag]

Yea it's something I've considered. I don't want to go too overboard, it's hard to get a balance between extra detail, and looking tacky.