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These days a nice set of wheels can set you back $15,000. The tires — and car — cost extra. Most drivers are barely aware of their wheels, the metal rims that connect the tires to the axle. Back in the Beach Boys era of muscle cars, some guys stuck fancy hubcaps over their wheels to add a little flash. But in recent years the wheels themselves have been getting dressed up, transforming these ordinary auto parts into urban fashion statements, starting with the hip-hop crowd and spreading to suburbanites who drive SUVs. "They're like jewelry for your car," says an auto executive. Indeed, a set of Lexani's 14-karat gold-plated rims costs $10,000 and comes with a matching necklace.

Popularized by rap artists (Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Nelly) and NBA stars (Latrell Sprewell, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant), custom wheels come in thousands of eye-catching shapes that resemble everything from the blade of a buzz saw to the barrel of a revolver. Specific models, sold under brand names like Bling Image and AutoCouture, can race in and out of fashion in as little as six months. "People want big chrome one week, silver the next," Don Sabino says of the 10,000 customers at his Rent-A-Wheel chain in the southwestern U.S. But in the oversexed world of auto enthusiasts, size seems to matter most. Five years ago, when 15-in. wheels were the norm for SUVs, custom-wheel makers started cranking out 20-inchers, which today are dwarfed by 22-, 24- and even 26-in. rims that stand a full 9 in. taller than the ones that are standard on a Hummer.

This phenomenon, referred to as "plus sizing" in boardrooms and "big balling" on the street, has pushed U.S. sales of custom wheels up to $3.2 billion last year, from $1.2 billion in 1991, and every company from Toyota to Mattel is trying to get in on the action. Two years after Mattel started licensing miniature rims for its Hot Wheels toy cars, the firm will unveil a line of wheels for real cars. Rimmakers are also expecting a boost from this summer's sequel to the 2001 surprise-hit movie The Fast and the Furious, which opens June 6. Amid all the over-the-top street-racing scenes, there's a dose of reality: one of the main characters (played by singer Tyrese), has spent a few years in the slammer for possessing "hot"--as in stolen — wheels.

Outside Hollywood, wheel-related crimes include rim jacking and, on occasion, even homicide. This spring a college student was fatally shot in Sacramento when he tried to steal one of Dayton's gold-plated low-rider wheels from a machine shop. A police officer in Florida's Broward County was killed in April when he interrupted two men pinching designer rims off a new Cadillac Escalade. Five of these luxury SUVs were stolen in March from a dealer's lot in Laguna Niguel, Calif.; four were found the next day missing only their wheels and tires. The thieves had cherry-picked the Escalades that were decked out with 22-in. custom rims, including some chrome Momos that retail for $8,000 a set.

The lure of expensive wheels is one reason that auto theft is on the rise in the U.S. after declining for most of the past decade, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, based in Chicago. "For a professional crook, wheel locks are a very minor inconvenience," says Sergeant Joe Thrasher, who supervises California's Orange County auto-theft task force. So while a nice set of rims lends a certain amount of street credibility, it's best to avoid parking on the street.

Flashy wheels come with other downsides too. For an extra $8,000 or $10,000, a dealer will happily upgrade the standard 17-in. wheels on an SUV to 22- or even 24-in. rims, which often requires shaving off part of the wheel well. Plus-size rims have to be paired with thinner tires, which means the ride gets bumpier, the braking distance increases and the turning radius is diminished. "Instead of making a three-point turn, you might have to do a 16-point turn," says John Jarasa, editor of Dub, one of a handful of magazines that have sprung up in the past three years to showcase celebrities with big wheels.

Detroit automakers are jumping on the bandwagon, fitting concept cars like this year's Dodge Avenger with gargantuan 20-in. wheels. But carmakers know that if the wheels are too big, they can screw up the power steering or transmission. Hence the industry's slow shift to 17-in. rims. Over the past two years, shipments to automakers of 17-in. tires have risen 9%, while shipments of 15-inchers have fallen nearly 12%. Even BMW's pint-size Mini Cooper comes with optional 17-in. wheels.

"Wheels are tricky," says David Elshoff, spokesman at Mopar, DaimlerChrysler's mammoth parts division. "Bigger ones look better, but don't necessarily enhance the performance of the car. There's a small degree of liability there." Mopar sells a dizzying array of auto accessories — from chrome grilles to rear spoilers — but steers clear of supersize rims. Its parent company will go only 3 in. bigger than what comes standard, which is why the dealers that are starting to display tricked-out "Moparized" cars will probably outfit them with non-Mopar wheels.

Toyota is taking a different approach to the customization craze. Its new line of Gen Y-oriented Scions will hit dealer lots in June with a standard package that lets buyers choose from three wheel-cover designs — or pay $665 to upgrade to ritzier alloy rims. "A lot of people go right out and buy custom wheels," says spokeswoman Ming-Jou Chen. "We want to give them a choice from the factory." A choice, mind you, that is no bigger than 15 in.

Meanwhile, American Racing, the country's biggest custom-wheel maker, has seen sales of its big wheels grow 40% over the past year and is preparing to launch a second plus-size line called Twenty Inches Strong. Like several of its competitors, the company, based in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., debuted a 26-in. wheel long before there was a "street-legal" tire to go with it. (South Korea's Kumho Industrial started shipping a 26-in. tire last month, the first to meet federal testing requirements.) The good news for Detroit is that big rims are finally maxing out. Bazo Wheels, in City of Industry, Calif., admits that the 28-in. wheel and tire it unveiled last fall will never make it past the prototype stage. "It's just too big," says marketing chief Bill Koenig. "It looks like a rubber band strapped to a quarter."

Size limitations mean wheelmakers will have to find other ways to stand out. Japan's Enkei has produced the first 24-in. forged wheel, which weighs 30% less than ones that are cast. Italy's Momo and Japan's Lowenhart are pushing wheels with parts that can be popped out and painted to match the car. KMC Wheel, in Riverside, Calif., which is making the rims for Hot Wheels, is also going after off-roading enthusiasts who are looking for sturdiness as well as style.

But so far the wheels that have commanded the biggest price tags are those with inserts that keep spinning for a few minutes after the car stops moving. The limited-edition "continuous-motion" wheels by Davin, based in Providence, R.I., start at a suggested retail price of $14,400 for a 24-in. set. "It's very much like an elite club," says CEO Ian Hardman. Last month Davin received a patent for its spinning technology, which could spell trouble for dozens of copycats — and keep prices and profits whirling high.

• Julie Rawe