About the Author: Taylor Smith

Taylor Smith is a co-founder of Variant Alloy Wheels, the forged-wheel brand he launched a little over eight years ago. His career in the automotive industry spans nearly two decades, and Variant is the brand he built to be a direct extension of who he is as an enthusiast and creator.

Background

Taylor's path started at Discount Tire, where he learned the business under the legendary Bruce Halle, the company's founder. That era shaped how he thinks about taking care of customers—so much so that several core values from Discount Tire carried directly into Variant, including the brand's road hazard protection program, which remains a rarity among forged-wheel makers.

Over the years he's worked across the performance aftermarket, including time at Vivid Racing, and led rebrands for names like Agency Power, Status (racing seats), and Aria (racing helmets). Building and rebranding other companies' identities for so long is exactly what pushed him to create something of his own.

He grew up in the Chicago drifting community, and motorsport has been a throughline his entire life. The automotive world has opened countless doors for him and introduced him to some of his longest-lasting friendships. Variant is the culmination of that journey—after developing so many other brands, Taylor leaned fully into his own creative vision and made Variant a single, focused output of it.

What Taylor writes about

On the Variant blog, Taylor breaks down the topics wheel buyers actually search for—written to be genuinely useful, not salesy:

• Wheel construction & technology — forged vs. flow-formed vs. cast, monoblock vs. multi-piece, unsprung weight, and why it all matters.
• Fitment & sizing — offset, width, bolt pattern, staggered setups, and how to avoid rubbing.
• Vehicle-specific guidance — choosing the right wheels for platforms like the Corvette C8, Toyota Supra, Audi R8, BMW M-series, and Tesla Model S Plaid.
• Ownership & care — cleaning, ceramic coatings, brake dust, and protecting finishes.

Why trust this advice

With nearly twenty years in the industry—from the tire counter at Discount Tire to building and rebranding performance brands to founding Variant—Taylor's guidance comes from real product, customer, and motorsport experience, not generic copy. When a topic touches safety (load ratings, fitment tolerances, impact behavior), it's treated with the seriousness a wheel deserves, because it's the only thing connecting a car to the road.

Connect

Questions or want a fitment recommendation? Reach the team at sales@variantwheels.com or explore the full forged wheel lineup.