Do New Wheels improve anything other than looks?

I have never liked the look of the stock wheels for at Reg. Cab 4x4. I have thought about getting the TRD FJ Wheels, not sure on color but my just have to settle with Silver. My main question is do more expensive, supposedly "better" wheels/rims, not the tires, make much of a difference or improve the ride quality, especially since the size of the wheel would barely change? Say a swap from the stock to the TRD or any other aftermarket wheels improve ride quality or better whatever or is is mostly looks?

Thank You in advance.

 

It is mostly looks unless they are really light weight wheels, wheels meant for extreme use, or beadlocks. 95% of wheels are just for looks

 

I chose Aluminum wheels for less weight and cuz they looked good.

 

Some people choose wheels for a specific offset to help step the tires out so they clear suspension parts and avoid having to use spacers.

Other than that, weight or functionality such as beadlocks. Some people will run steel wheels because they can bend rather than cracking.

 

So functionally there would be no difference between a Steel Wheel (the stocks) and Cast Alloy (the FJ TRDs)? In some way hypothetically I started doing heavy 4x4 stuff I may want a steel instead of an Alloy? Currently I do no off-roading with the truck and also not planing much of any in the near future. I would upgrade the suspension before the wheels then. I am asking this because my b-day is in July and want to upgrade a few things on my Truck but looking at more practical/functional applications than merely cosmetics.

Also I would like to point out and thank you guys and other TWers for making this forum not like other forums where what can be a simple question gets multiple responses asking if the OP knows what a "Search" is for. I did try to do a search beforehand and did not find anything conclusive or in the mod section/threads so I had to make sure.