I've always thought my XK8 wheels would look good in a Porsche Weisse Gold shade but didn't want to take the plunge and potentially make a costly mistake.

This afternoon, I thought that AI could surely help me. I'm sure many forum members will have done this already but thought I'd share the output from Google's Gemini tool...



Standard Silver - Hard to Beat



Porsche Weisse Gold - I don't think so.



Carbon Black - Definitely not!

 

I have always preferred wheels finished in Bright Silver on these cars....

 

Actually, I am not a huge fan of brass/gold wheels, but I actually thinks it looks good with that color car. I also like the black. Probably like the alloy the least, but still OK. Nice Jag!

 

Same color car and similar style of wheels, thought of refinishing carbon black but decided to go stock.

Really like the Gold.

 

Never been a fan of the modern black wheels. I only ever liked black on the basketweave style center disk with a machined or polished aluminum outer rim. When I was growing up, if your car had black wheels, it meant you bought the poverty spec trim level.

I was daily driver shopping a couple years ago and asked a veteran salesman even older than me at the Lexus dealer why so many of their inventory was outfitted with black wheels. He said it was because of brake dust. The almost infinitely lasting brake pad materials Toyota had been using were more likely to make noise and generate complaints so they started using softer brake pad materials a few years back that wore faster, but also made more brake dust in the process. Customers were complaining about the brake dust, so they started putting black wheels on their Lexus cars to sort of camouflage the brake dust and the complaints went way down. He explained that the brake dust eventually makes the black wheels look kind matte black, as if they were supposed to look like that, compared to looking dirty like it does on silver wheels.

I do like bronze wheels (depending on the car color), but like silver wheels, brake dust will make bronze wheels look dirty too. If you are obsessive-compulsive about cleaning every visible square centimeter of your cars like I am, you need wheels that are very easy to clean and open enough that you can reach all the way through to the inside lip. I just keep wishing for the fashion to swing back to closed-face wheels that hide the entire brake rotor and caliper. Don't have to clean the calipers or back sides of the wheels on any of my classic cars because you can't see them.

 

I know exactly what you mean. My current pads make the silver alloys look dirty after even a short run. I quite like the light gold/brass but not enough to spend the money on changing from standard.

 

Using the Akebono Pads with Brembo Disks I have little to no dust on the Silver wheels.

 

I had a little with same as above...but would never use all black wheels...contrast is a good thing.
My thoughts @ black wheels & manufacturers : It is less expensive to paint them black and then convince everyone that is is cool (maybe even charge more for them).
wj

 

I recently saw a Kia commercial for their new X-Line Nightfall Collection talking about the black trim package and I was aghast. .

Touches of Black, They say a lot without having to say much.
They stand for elegance, refinement and prestige.
Even a little can go a long way.
And though they're darker than the darkest night, they make you see everything in a new light.

Seriously? They want us to believe that gloss black plastic is more elegant or prestigious than chrome or polished stainless steel or wood veneer? Or that 20" monochrome black wheels with rubber band tires are more luxurious than 18" machine-faced aluminum wheels with enough air in them for cushioning (another pet peeve of mine for another thread)? Sorry Kia, I still see a budget airport rental car, now with enough scratches and swirl marks to trigger me an obsessive-compulsive nervous breakdown.

 

After 50 years in the automotive repair field, black wheels will always look like it's missing it's hub caps.

 

If your running silver wheels I use a Carbon Fiber or a ceramic brake pad. Then almost no dust or the dust is light colored like what the ceramic pads put out. I have found the Brembo pads are real dusty.
My current favorite brake pads are the Porterfield R-4S pads. Very long lasting so far with little brake dust.
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I put new MBC pads on my car a few hundred miles ago. They came as a deal with some new disks so I thought I’d try them out although concerned about brake dust. Sure enough, there’s a large dust build up very soon after cleaning the wheels so I replaced them yesterday with EBC Red Stuff pads. Others recommend them so I’m hoping for better brake performance and less dust…