“Sawblade” Wheels: Where’s the Love?

“All ya gotta do is get rid of the sawblades,” he said.

“WHAT?” I sputtered. “I love those wheels!”

He was checking out my Polo Green ’93 (shown above), which is completely original, right down to the exhaust system. The “sawblades” that came on the car are in excellent condition, and they’re staying on it.

It’s hard to understand the disdain for the design of the aluminum wheels on the later C4s. There are many who think they look good, especially against the darker colors like Polo Green. But the first thing many owners do is yank these wheels off and replace them with something they deem to be “cooler.” Needless to say, the guy I was talking to has an ’89 convertible sporting aftermarket wheels.

The trend toward the thin-spoke, open-type wheels probably started with automotive engineers constantly striving to reduce unsprung weight in the suspension. Their goal was to continually improve ride and handling. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this was to make the wheels themselves ever lighter. In addition to using lighter materials such as magnesium or aluminum, the next weight-saving technique was removing material from the wheel, making the spokes ever-thinner, and giving the wheel an “open” look.

It’s clear that the thin-spoke, open-wheel design is preferred these days. Body-color or contrasting-color painted calipers behind these thin-spoke wheels seem ubiquitous on most newer Corvettes. Fans of painted calipers obviously favor the thin spokes, because you can’t see painted calipers behind “full” aluminum wheels like the “sawblades”.

So what is your preference? If you’re younger, you’re probably a fan of the newer open design, perhaps sporting painted brake calipers behind the wheels. If you’re older, you may like the look of the older design, with just some relatively small slots for cooling.

Back to the original question: Is there any love out there for the “sawblades”?