Essentially, tuning can have two purposes that sometimes (or most of the times) overlap: making a car go faster or making it look better, while at the same time differentiating its outside appearance from the other stock vehicles of the same model.
But every once in a while come these attempts that can only be explained by an unnatural desire of the tuner to make all the chiropractors on a 50-mile radius extremely rich. There is no other possible explanation, as these wheels will definitely not improve a car’s handling or performance ratings, nor will they make it look better for anyone with a functioning pair of eyes and an ounce of common sense.
We’re well aware of the Donk phenomenon, but unfortunately this effort by TateDesign, despite being extremely ridiculous, isn’t ridiculous enough to fit in that category. It falls a few inches short, as this Mercedes-Benz GLE450 AMG Coupé 4MATIC “only” uses 26-inch Forgiato wheels.
For reference purposes, use the magenta Cadillac SRX that pops into view every now and then - you’ll know what we’re talking about once you see it. That’s a proper dump... sorry, Donk of a car. Next to it, the Mercedes-Benz looks like a noob’s work.
And it’s not just the size of the wheels that’s over the top - their design is equally distressing. TateDesign has managed to match the matte red finish of the wrapped body to the red accents on the otherwise black wheels, but that’s probably the only good thing we can say about the transformation. Well, perhaps the foil itself would have looked nice with a set of smaller (if 22” can be called “small”), less busy wheels, but we’ll probably never know. Instead, we’ll be forever scarred with the image of this nice vehicle rendered useless just for the sake of looking different.
Anyone who has ever ridden a bicycle knows how important tire pressure is to comfort - too stiff, and you’ll feel every speck of dust on the road. Well, imagine what it must be like driving this GLE450 AMG Coupé. Forget about AIRMATIC suspension or Comfort riding mode - your kidneys are going to ask for a transfer while your spine will slowly grind to a fine powder. Which, on the bright side, will probably make you look just as different from a human being as this transformation makes the GLE450 AMG Coupé from a regular car.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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