The new wheels are now mounted on the 550 with a duplicate set of the same Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires that I ran on the PPIR track in mid-July with the OEM wheels.
This HRE/Michelin set will be for street/ highway use and -- unlike the track tire/OEM wheel set-- will be covered with road hazard insurance, in case I pick up a nail!
As for the wheel choice, I picked a five spoke HRE design (547R) to retain the strong and balanced styling cues of the 550's OEM wheels: Five spokes, as designed by Pininfarina and built by Speedline.
I also chose a brushed finish-- not chromed-- to be subtle and not draw too much attention away from the overall vehicle's aesthetics.
There is no chrome
anywhere else on the 550, so chromed wheels wouldn't accent anything
and would just draw attention to themselves-- detracting from the subtle highlight reflections
that one often sees in the car's yellow body color!
I chose a split-spoke design from HRE, specifically to remind (me) of Ferrari GT cars and wheels of the past like the Ferrari 275's wire wheels and the Berlinetta lineage leading up to the 550.
Finally, I selected exposed rivets on the rim (like the 550 Barchetta wheels) to compliment the 550's disk brake's
drilled rotors and make the foundation of the car appear, "all business".
