Looking for subtle options for aesthetic mods. 2016 XF Portfolio 2.0 in Red

Apart from slightly darker tints (nothing crazy) I've been thinking of slightly larger (and nicer) official jaguar wheels. The ones that came with my XF are pretty beaten up.

Not sure whether to consider 19" or 20"? Not sure how big the current standard ones are but I'd definitely want slightly bigger. Suggestions appreciated.

 

what wheels do you have right now ! do you have a photo of your car ?

 

Sure.

Factory

 

Hmmm, may need a couple of more straight-on photos to give us a better view. You say "subtle" , and that often means a driver who DOESN'T want the overall height of his car to rise at all (for some of us, even 3/4 of an inch higher looks unsatisfactory to the look of the car somehow). Is this the way your feel?
Or does subtle mean the design style of the aluminum wheel itself (as in, you don't want MAG looking wheels, or wild laser-cut shapes on the new rims, etc)?

All of this leads to your options. For instance, I select a 17" wheel replace the original 18" wheels on my XE. An XE is already pretty close to the ground by nature, so 17" should make the car even nearer to the ground---but I wear winter tires on them, and the tires have a tall sidewall---so my 17" wheel with a taller tire LOOKS smaller in the wheel well, but the CAR itself isn't really lower to the ground. The result is a "less heavy" overall look to the entire car. Just from changing Tire-dimensions hand-in-hand with changing the rim size.

Keeping the same wheel size, but choosing a tire with a slightly taller sidewall height, gives you a bigger "wheel" appearance, and raises your car 1/2" or so, creating a more bulkier, more commanding stance to the XF.

Picking a bigger wheel diameter, but choosing a "low-profile" tire (a tire with a SHORTER sidewall height), keeps the car the same height off the ground (to retain whatever stealthy look an XF has), and COULD make your wheels as noticeable than the car itself, when people look at it. But that's not easy to do, when your car is such a splendid Red color.

Keeping the same wheel size, but choosing rims that have thin, airy spokes (as opposed to wide fan or propeller style spokes) gives a more see-thru view to the brake disc and pads, and creates the "illusion" of wider, open wheels, without a single change to any heights or sizes at all. Just in the viewer's mind.


And you mentioned "darker", which is the other option between XE and XF. To me BOTH cars have a very grown-up body style (gorgeous, somewhat racy and predatory, but ALWAYS in a mature, "no kids allowed" way). I have no hesitation about taking a racy XE, and putting rims on it that come from the more mature XF collection. But if I had the XF, I'd want to avoid wheels that an XE has. You have an XF---are you looking to keep the same mature styling on your car, or interested in getting a subtle touch of sporty-XE rims styling in gunmetal or grey coloring?

With just that one picture of yours to go by... my own opinion is that your current rims look a bit "domestic" and "family oriented", while your red color is ALMOST saying Italian roads and sunbathed Riviera for two. It's kinda two different attitudes competing on the same car. I endorse the decision to change the rim style (and I like your plan to be subtle), but be sure you can describe to yourself what your overall goal is.... so you can narrow down the possible choices.

 

Not really subtle, but here are the Petrol rims I have on my 2016 XF.

 

Not bad though.
You're right, Vistacom. Not subtle. But they illustrate what I meant about letting more open view onto the wheel hub and brake cover automatically starts to make the whole wheel+tire "look" bigger in the wheel well.
Did you stay with the same wheel size and tire size as your OEM?

 

Yes, still 19 inch OEM size. It is my Wife's car and we thought 20 inch would cause the ride to feel a little rougher (less sidewall and air), and She liked her car the way it was.)

 

Aaahh, good to be married. Our spouses have good taste in sidewalls, and they know how to be menacing enough to make the right statement on the street.
Right?
(Say I'm right, or men everywhere will be in trouble for a month. Gals have a grapevine that distributes information about what we discuss when they're not around).

 

Yes, you are correct. LOL

 

Happy for the height to change, was expecting that if going for larger diameter wheels. In my mind I think that 19" would probably be the right size.

Yes you are correct, when I said subtle I meant regarding the style of the aluminium wheel itself. I'm looking to avoid the sporty or racy look, so thank you for your advice to avoid XE wheels, I'll be sure to do that. I am looking to continue with the classic, mature feel as I use the car to meet business clients and I'm keen to portray more of an "executive" look rather than sporty. But as you said, the existing ones feel a little "family" orientated and I don't think they look especially high end.

 

You know specifically what effect you're looking for, so you'll definitely succeed. It's funny how I picked out an XF wheel when I searched like crazy for a winter wheel to put on my XE. I'd be driving it around in dirt and snow and 10-below, so it's not time to be a "sportcar", it's time to spend three months being a grown-up in a confident Simon Templar way.
The LIBRA is the wheel I finally bought---it's an old 2015/16 design.
Slightly past-era, slightly European 60's fashionable, slightly French casinos and baccarat. Slightly TOO CALM for an XE, but that's exactly what I wanted the XE to say in wintertime: "I'm ready for games, but I choose not to play them until Springtime."



The first photo is not mine, but gets the point across better. The spokes look like they have a curve on them, but they actually don't--they're imitating nearly everything true straight bicycle spokes do (except the overlap). Gives good see-thru to the brake disc, looking thicker and busier near the hub, looking simple and tapered toward the rim. Libra is all about spokes, thicker in cross-section than in width--they put a lot of thought-out complexity in that shape that you only see as a simple pattern as you walk by fast. This wheel actually looks gradually more serious as it collects dirt in its little corners and crannies. I'm married to the Libra.

I was shocked that Jaguar's XF collection made this in 17", and never apparently made it in the other sizes. Jaguar, come on!! The right spokes design can make a car look neat, serious and worldly.
Jaguar does have an AXIS, and a VORTEX in 19", but the spokes look wrong for both an XF or an XE (spokes should get smaller towards the rim end, not the hub end).

There's a mystical TWIN-7-SPOKE that claims to be the same straight-spoke design as the old Libra, but adds a thin scribe down the center of each spoke that makes it look like it's about to split in half. But I've never seen an actual photo of this thing anywhere (just cheap b&w drawings), so it may just be a goose.

AQUILA Is a 19" design that comes from 2011, so it's not at all racy. It's called a 10-spoke, but the supports are slightly curved, so for me it's not really "spoke", and not enough European/Riviera/coastlines of France looking to thrill me. But it's definitely grown-up, and I've seen it in greytone option too, for anyone who wants a less sparkly alternative to Jag's typical bright aluminum finish.

SEVEN-SPLIT-7012, from 2017 or so, is not a spoke either, but if the supports have to be curved, I prefer the way the 7-split-7012 does it. It's a very "athletic" attitude for a 19" wheel---I mean it's not muscle car looking, not family car looking, not aggressive or sporty. But on a dark-colored car it has a strong "don't act like a clown when you're near this car" attitude. Would it do the same on a red car?---I can't be sure.
Be careful, because there's a XF wheel called RAZOR-7-DOUBLE-SPOKE that looks a lot like the Seven-Split, but something is different about it, and I never could put my finger on what it is in all the photos. The Razor-7-Double just LOOKS too modern and machine-cut to me, while the Seven-Split-7012 LOOKS more polished and relaxed. Yet they are the same design pattern.

I keep mentioning the YEAR these came out, because Jaguar sometimes uses the same "name" on two different designs from different years or cars. UUUUGH! So when you think you've found a photo of a particular wheel, check its model number on a few more sites, to ensure they are describing the right wheel in their ads.