As does the watch on your wrist and the clothing in your wardrobe, the car—or cars—in your garage says something about you, notes Sherif Yassa, vice president at the Claus Ettensberger Corp. (CEC), which, in addition to offering Brabus tunings and accessories (pictured above) for Mercedes-Benz cars in its Los Angeles and Miami facilities, also sells and installs Antera and its own brand of alloy wheels. "People look to differentiate themselves from their neighbors," says Yassa. "When you have a $100,000 car, you’re not necessarily looking to make it better, but you want to make it different, to make it unique."

Custom wheels will differentiate your car in a manner that's readily apparent. "It’s the most cost-effective way to make your car distinctive," says Yassa. "It can be expensive, but it makes the biggest difference in terms of appearance. You can spend $3,000 on a new front bumper, and an enthusiast will notice the difference, but the average person won’t. But if you spend $5,000 on wheels, everyone will notice."

But you want them to notice the entire car, says Dave Barron, owner of No Limit, an aftermarket shop in Baltimore. "You don’t want people to see just wheels when they look at a car," says Barron. "It all has to come together; it all has to flow."

On the following pages, we spotlight some customized wheels and let No Limit and other shops describe how they used each to distinguish a car while at the same time incorporating the wheel design into the car’s overall appearance.

DIRECT TIRE & AUTO SERVICE l Four locations in Massachusetts

Vehicle: 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 (pictured above)
Color: Black
Wheels: Asanti AF144 (pictured above)
Size: 22 inches rear; 20 inches front
Details: Custom-made with 6-inch lips painted black to match the car’s body; polished chrome center with black accents
Shop Talk: “The inside of the wheel is black and the outside lip is black. This was beautiful,” says Direct Tire & Auto Service president Barry Steinberg, who founded his business in 1974. “Challengers have huge wheel wells, and we wanted to fill them up. You can stuff a really big tire under there. The car had only 1,100 miles on it when we did it. The owner didn’t want to drive the car until he got his wheels on it—my type of guy.”

Vehicle: 2005 BMW 645
Color: Black with black-tinted windows
Wheels: EXE Konvex
Size: 22 inches
Details: All polished chrome, including the center and lip
Shop Talk: “This is a real show car; you don’t want to drive it in the rain,” says Steinberg. “The wheels look like jewels against the black body and black windows. It’s really pretty.”

SHARKWERKS l Fremont, California

Vehicle: 2009 Porsche 997 GT2
Color: Silver
Wheels: HRE Monoblok P43 (pictured above)
Size: 19 inches
Details: Satin charcoal finish with a silver pinstripe that matches the car’s body
Shop Talk: “What people like about the HRE wheels is that they’re really lightweight and still really strong,” says Sharkwerks operations manager Dan Kennedy, noting that each of these HRE wheels is about eight pounds lighter than a factory-issued wheel for this Porsche.

Vehicle: 2009 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S (pictured above)
Color: Gray
Wheels: HRE Monoblok M50
Size: 22 inches
Details: Brushed finish
Shop Talk: “The wheels are very big on a Cayenne. Each of these wheels weighs about 10 pounds less than the [21-inch] factory wheels,” says Kennedy. “This particular Cayenne has about 660 horsepower, and the owner wanted to enjoy all that power, so he went with the lighter wheels. You could go with 24-inch wheels, but you lose some agility. With 22-inch wheels, this is pretty agile for a 5,000-pound truck.” 

NO LIMIT l Baltimore

Vehicle: 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS (pictured above)
Color: Orange with a white racing stripe
Wheels: Gianelle Qatar
Size: 24 inches
Details: Flat black with an orange lip that matches the car’s body and a Koko Kuture white bezel that matches the car’s racing stripe
Shop Talk: “I don’t do a lot of chrome when the decision is up to me, and the owner of this car gave me full rein, so the grille and logos match the wheels and car,” says No Limit owner Dave Barron. “I try to make everything flow, all the way down to the logos. For the wheels, I pulled the calipers and color-matched them with the car and added an SS logo. The racing stripes on the wheel are white with a thin, flat black outline. Sometimes you can ruin a car with stripes or too many colors, but I think this color scheme flows. The owner says he can’t drive it without people stopping him to take pictures.”
 
Vehicle: 2007 BMW M5
Color: Originally black, now white with black carbon fiber accents, including a black carbon fiber roof
Wheels: Savini SV-22 (detail above)
Size: 22 inches
Details: Carbon fiber lip that matches the roof and the car’s other carbon fiber accents
Shop Talk: “This car started life as a black bone-stock beast; now it’s a white, 600-horsepower Dinan stroker monster,” says Barron. “It’s respected by Bimmer heads and auto enthusiasts from all over the world. As long as the owner can keep it on the road—I have my fingers crossed that he can—it’s gonna be an eye-catcher for a long time.”