What is Hyper Silver vs. Regular Silver Wheel Paint?

Regular Silver or Hyper Silver – Which Is Your Wheel?

When it comes to wheel colors, there can be a lot of confusion. Along with the machined and polished there are also many variations of painted finishes. One of the most confusing is the standard or regular silver vs. the hyper silver. The reason these can be so confusing is that they are very, very similar. Even in photos these can be difficult to distinguish without seeing the two finishes next to each other. Without actually being able to see the wheels here is a general guide to help you identify what finish your wheels are.

Standard or “Regular” Silver

This is generally a grey colored paint infused with small metallic flecks. The shade of grey can vary between companies depending on if you’re looking at a BMW vs. a Land Rover but overall they all have a similar grey base color. The amount and size of silver flakes can also vary from being very tiny and only a few to being large enough to see with the naked eye and many. Often times a silver with a lot of sparkle flecks will be referred to as a “sparkle silver” to identify the difference.

Hyper Silver

This can be a bit more complicated. There is actually a light hyper silver and a dark hyper silver. Both have similar properties however have a very different appearance.

The dark hyper silver has a dark base coat with a light colored powder coat sprayed over to give it almost a 2-tone look. This type of wheel paint looks dark in shadow but bright in sunlight. Often it is compared to the color of a polished stainless steel. Light hyper silver on the other hand has a light base coat. This finish often looks bright with a shine similar to a pearl.

These finishes are a powder coat and do not have the small metallic flecks like the regular silver would have. As you can see in these two images side by side the color looks noticeably different, but would you be able to tell which one is on your vehicle?

Silver Wheel

Hyper Silver Wheel