One of the fancier options common on upmarket car models are asymmetric or “directional” wheels. These usually have some sort of angled “vane” or “turbine” spokes that ostensibly function to extract hot air from around the brake rotor. (Whether they are functionally effective in practice is an unending topic of forum flame wars lively debate.) TRUE asymmetric/directional wheels have mirror-image castings for the right and left, because the wheels on one side of the car rotate opposite the other.
This trick, however, causes some hassles. Not only is there the added cost of two castings, there is the logistical hurdle of two different part numbers in the pipeline, and extra maintenance attention when replacing a damaged rim, installing new tires, or simply rotating tires.
For all those reasons, OEM’s are sometimes tempted to take the quick-and-dirty step of simply using one interchangeable casting for all four wheels, allowing one side of the car to drive on “backwards” wheels. Some folks never notice it, and others go into an OCD rage over it. And thanks to a great suggestion by Sjalabais, that’s your Hoonatian topic for today.
The Caveats (there are always caveats):
- Original equipment only. No aftermarket wheels, please.
- Concept cars, prototypes, limited editions, homologation specials, and race cars are fair game as long as they were produced by a major manufacturer or a widely known automotive design house/coachbuilder.
- Trucks, both light and heavy-duty, are allowed, as long as they are road-legal. No construction machinery, mining equipment, snowmobiles, tractors or lawn mowers.
- Motorcycles—how would that work?
- Airplanes and boats: Alright, sure. If you can successfully go there today, I’ll be damned impressed.
Difficulty: Two tokens (unless you’ve purchased the ride-all-day wristband).
How This Works: Read the comments first and don’t post duplicates! Bonus points for adding photos.
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