Alloys V Steel Wheels

Wats_in_a_name

Just wondering Alloys V Steel wheels. Whats the difference? My mate says they increase performance, speed & fuel economy drastically? Is this actually true? I know there lighter but surely thats it?!

MarkR

Alloys can actually be heavier then steel wheels, especially if you go larger. They wont make you faster, probably slower? You'll be like a feckin hawk looking for speed bumps and potholes. Looks really only benefit

Wats_in_a_name

Steel it is then. Not paying 1/3 of the cars value for 'looks'

Wats_in_a_name

Wats_in_a_name wrote: »

Just wondering Alloys V Steel wheels. Whats the difference? My mate says they increase performance, speed & fuel economy drastically? Is this actually true? I know there lighter but surely thats it?!

Your mate is talking sh1te

MarkR wrote: »

Alloys can actually be heavier then steel wheels, especially if you go larger. They wont make you faster, probably slower? You'll be like a feckin hawk looking for speed bumps and potholes. Looks really only benefit

I drive on 18" alloys and have no probs

Wats_in_a_name wrote: »

Steel it is then. Not paying 1/3 of the cars value for 'looks'

1/3 of the price? What car is it?

Wats_in_a_name

RoverJames wrote: »

1/3 of the price? What car is it?

2002 Peugeot 206.

andyseadog

are you considering buying them as an extra or looking at buying 206's with/ without alloys?

Wats_in_a_name

Considering buying them extra. Looking at new cars. My car at the moment has steel wheels and there grand. Just my mate was going on about how alloys are magic and improve performace & fuel economy so thought I would give them a shot. Then I saw the prices!

andyseadog

yeah, thats balls, cheap alloys for the most part will be heavier and can potentially bend easier, more expensive alloys will be lighter and stronger, but the differences will be negligible, not worth the cost.

they really only make sense for looks.

Testament1

If you buy cheap alloys then chances are they're going to be pretty heavy and can reduce acceleration and increase fuel consumption. Also cheap wheels mightn't be too strong either. Forged alloys like Rays would be pretty lightweight and strong but also very expensive!

Yawns

Tell your friend he's correct while trying to keep a straight face.

As above, it's mainly looks. Expensive alloys may be lighter and stronger but I'd just leave the steel ones on for now.

dr.fuzzenstein

Had nothing but grief with alloys in this country, personally I think that 90% of alloys are bent and that will feck up handling and the ABS (especially the ABS).
Once you have alloys you will be driving along backroads at 30 km/h whilst looking out for speedbumps whilst you drive over dogs, children and cyclists, only so you won't hit a tiny bump and completely destroy one or two wheel which will then cost a fortune to put right.
Actually, you will be avoiding backroads altogether, since any time you save on them will be offset by the several hundred euro bill for repairs to your warped and cracked wheels.
Steel wheels can be driven with much more wild abandon and, if bent, fixed with a universal heavy duty adjuster (4 pound lumphammer).
Mind you though, if you have a nice car (A4, Passat or such), good alloys can make it that much nicer.
But a scanky old banger will only look worse with a E250 set of nasty, cheap alloys from a bargain shop.

iphone4g

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Had nothing but grief with alloys in this country, personally I think that 90% of alloys are bent and that will feck up handling and the ABS (especially the ABS).
Once you have alloys you will be driving along backroads at 30 km/h whilst looking out for speedbumps whilst you drive over dogs, children and cyclists, only so you won't hit a tiny bump and completely destroy one or two wheel which will then cost a fortune to put right.
Actually, you will be avoiding backroads altogether, since any time you save on them will be offset by the several hundred euro bill for repairs to your warped and cracked wheels.
Steel wheels can be driven with much more wild abandon and, if bent, fixed with a universal heavy duty adjuster (4 pound lumphammer).
Mind you though, if you have a nice car (A4, Passat or such), good alloys can make it that much nicer.
But a scanky old banger will only look worse with a E250 set of nasty, cheap alloys from a bargain shop.

What a load of CRAP

dr.fuzzenstein

iphone4g wrote: »

What a load of CRAP

Elaborate?

PaulKK

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Elaborate?

Your post is a load of nonsense.

Personally, I have had 15", 17" and now 18" alloys with a 35 profile.

I have never had an alloy buckle on me and I live in the countryside with less than perfect roads.

jamesk_irl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZYryyA28go

iphone4g

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Elaborate?

There is no need ,anyone with a brain will understand

Voodoomelon

Alloys have nothing to do with ride comfort compared to steel wheels. What does affect the aforementioned is the tyre size. As alloy wheels tend to be larger than steel wheels, smaller tyres are required to keep the overall circumference of the wheel the same.

As a result, most 17"-18" alloy wheels have low profile tyres which depending on the car and its suspension, may induce a much firmer ride.

At the same time, it also depends on the car. Large saloons can have very large alloys and large tyres as the wheel wells are larger and can accommodate a larger overall wheel. Same goes for jeeps and SUVs.

The only element of truth in what your mate said is that factory alloy wheels are lighter than an aftermarket replica of the same wheel.

dr.fuzzenstein

PaulKK wrote: »

Your post is a load of nonsense.

Personally, I have had 15", 17" and now 18" alloys with a 35 profile.

I have never had an alloy buckle on me and I live in the countryside with less than perfect roads.

Same here and I had loads of bad luck, either a hole in the road 50 cm wide and 10 cm deep or a rock fallen of a wall, always just around a corner, always met an oncoming car, no chance, alloy bust.
Not going at a mad speed either, sub 80 km/h.
Would have to drive at 25-30 km/h in order to avoid massive, gaping holes, boulders in the roadway and various other objects fallen off trailers.
Once followed a car down a backroad, he drove over a steel bar, the bar bounced up in the air and impaled itself into my radiator. Ok, having alloys or not makes no difference here, but backroads have many surprises on them.
Not that motorways are any better, hit an xmas tree in the dark just before xmas, got off lightly though, only a dent in the rad.
The roads are bad and they're going to get worse because they're not being maintained.:(

VolvoMan

I yearn for the days when not every car on the road had alloys as standard.

I actually think steelies with decent looking hubcaps can look better than sh1tty basic alloys.

JerCotter7

It's only when you go low profile that alloys are more likely to crack. I've seen someone crack a steel wheel putting a low profile tyre onto them. Was kind of funny to see their reaction. The only reason you might get more grip is because alloys are more likely to have a low profile so there is less tyre roll in corners.

PaulKK

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Same here and I had loads of bad luck, either a hole in the road 50 cm wide and 10 cm deep or a rock fallen of a wall, always just around a corner, always met an oncoming car, no chance, alloy bust.
Not going at a mad speed either, sub 80 km/h.
Would have to drive at 25-30 km/h in order to avoid massive, gaping holes, boulders in the roadway and various other objects fallen off trailers.
Once followed a car down a backroad, he drove over a steel bar, the bar bounced up in the air and impaled itself into my radiator. Ok, having alloys or not makes no difference here, but backroads have many surprises on them.
Not that motorways are any better, hit an xmas tree in the dark just before xmas, got off lightly though, only a dent in the rad.
The roads are bad and they're going to get worse because they're not being maintained.:(

Jesus you have had bad luck! In fairness though 50cm potholes are not all that common! I think you seriously need to contact your council!

I have hit a few potholes with my alloys before, and there was never any trouble with tyres, or balancing the wheels after either when changing tyres.

-Chris-

iphone4g wrote: »

There is no need ,anyone with a brain will understand

Post constructively or don't post at all please.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

You can get some great steel wheels with great hubcaps that cover the steel on the wheel and make them look like alloys. Personally I would prefer alloys.

Hit a pothole once on a primary national road and burst my tyre, wheel had a sizable dent in it and was easily fixed. If this was an alloy it would have been destroyed.

Much rather have the robustness of a steel wheel than the astethics of an alloy.

kona

I agree, your mate is talking poo poo

Unless you are buying split rims or some superlight race spec wheels, Alloys are purely for looks only.

Testament1

JerCotter7 wrote: »

The only reason you might get more grip is because alloys are more likely to have a low profile so there is less tyre roll in corners.

Am no the profile of the tire doesn't affect grip anywhere near as much as the brand and spec of tyre does. For example you could have a tyre that has a 45mm wall but has pretty **** grip, but you could also get something like a Toyo R888 which would have far superior grip but still the same profile.

kona wrote: »

Unless you are buying split rims or some superlight race spec wheels, Alloys are purely for looks only.

I wouldnt agree entirely with that. I have a set of BuddyClub P1 SF alloys on my car which would be in and around the 7kg per wheel mark, (I'd need to look it up again to be 100% sure). I wouldn't say they are purely aesthetic (though they do look good ) since they should be lighter than the factory wheels.

Esel

iphone4g wrote: »

There is no need ,anyone with a brain will understand

Huh?? :pac:

What about unsprung weight, people?

Testament1

Esel wrote: »

Huh?? :pac:

What about unsprung weight, people?

I think that what he means is that unless you're buying cheap sh*t alloys then you shouldnt have any problems with buckling, cracking etc of alloys.
Also if you buy proper forge alloys such as those made by companys such as Rays then you should be reducing unsprung weight since they are lightweight wheels. Unlike cheap alloys which will more than likely increase unsprung weight.

Esel

The 'Huh?' was a tongue-in-cheek reply to iphone4g. I was indirectly implying that I myself was not the owner of a brain.


The 'unsprung weight' question was completely separate. As I am not a post-count fanboy, I included it in the same post.

Wouldn't most alloy wheels (of the same diameter as the original steel wheels) weigh less, and therefore improve handling by reducing the unsprung weight of the car?

tossy

The trick to buying big alloys in this country is buy good ones! sick to the teeth of people who buy crap 18/19" replica wheels and crap tyres and then suffer loads of buckles and cracks and come on forums spouting nonsense about how you can't have alloys in this country.

I ran BBS wheels with 225/40/18 tyres for years and where i live the roads are crap never once did i get a buckle every time i balanced them after fitting new tyres the were as straight as the day the left the factory.

dr.fuzzenstein

tossy wrote: »

The trick to buying big alloys in this country is buy good ones! sick to the teeth of people who buy crap 18/19" replica wheels and crap tyres and then suffer loads of buckles and cracks and come on forums spouting nonsense about how you can't have alloys in this country.

I ran BBS wheels with 225/40/18 tyres for years and where i live the roads are crap never once did i get a buckle every time i balanced them after fitting new tyres the were as straight as the day the left the factory.

Absolutely agree.
However, all the buckled alloys I had where all genuine Ford ones, not aftermarket, but what Ford puts on them in the factory.
Also a scrap merchant told me that he can't keep Ford alloys on the shelf, they're flying out the window.
If they don't arrive buckled at his shop in the first place. Which they usually do.
Went to another scrap yard to look at another set of Ford alloys, all buckled.
The scrap guy told me that Ford alloys are too soft and will warp when you look at them.
Having gone through many Fords and many wheels and the alloys on my GF's Mazda (cheap aftermarket ones) remaining straight as ever, even after years of potholed country roads, I can only assume he's right.
Anyone else have trouble with Ford alloys in particular?

--Kaiser--

If you buy decent alloys (they don't have to be forged, just not cheap) that aren't oversized, then you can improve your handling, braking and accelerating due to decreases in unsprung weight and rotational mass.

However, there is a tendency to buy cheap, oversize alloys which will disimprove all the above factors.