Alloy wheels or steel wheels, which is best for you? For different models, alloy wheels and steel wheels have their own advantages and disadvantages. In general, if you pursue beauty and performance, alloy wheels are the best choice. High strength, high load, and low price, then steel wheels are the best choice.

alloy wheel

Due to the advantages of appearance and performance, alloy wheels have become the standard option for most cars. Different from steel wheels, aluminum alloy can be designed into a variety of different styles through casting, providing more personalized appearance for cars and more customized options for car owners.

Aluminum-nickel alloy wheels are lighter than steel wheels, so they can provide cars with more flexible performance and better speed-up capabilities. Generally speaking, cars with alloy wheels are more comfortable to drive.

Under the influence of the road, the alloy wheel is indeed more prone to bending deformation than the steel wheel, and if the bending is excessive, it will break. The degree of bending fracture depends on the proportion of nickel in the aluminum alloy-the higher the proportion of nickel, the heavier the alloy wheel, but also more brittle, the less the proportion of nickel, the lighter the alloy wheel, and the strength is small and easy to deform. Different production processes such as casting or forging also have an effect on the strength of the alloy wheel.

Alloy wheels can be polished, painted, machined or chrome plated, and different finishing methods require different processing methods. Alloy wheels are also susceptible to surface damage caused by anti-scratch, salt water corrosion, and acidic detergents.

steel wheel

Because they are not cushioned by the suspension springs, the weight of the hub, tires, brakes, and spinner is collectively referred to as the unsprung mass.

Under the same weight, the unsprung mass has a much higher impact on the car than the sprung mass, and a small weight difference will have a great impact.

Steel wheels are heavier than aluminum wheels, so when you install steel wheels on a car with original aluminum wheels, you will find that the extra weight will inhibit its speed-up performance and flexibility, and lower the center of gravity of the car body, resulting in driving. Like a tank.

Obviously, the performance of steel wheels is not suitable for summer, but in winter, it can be a significant physical and psychological advantage. The heavier wheels can keep the tires close to the snow, so that when driving on the snow, the suppressed speed and flexibility, the artificially lowered center of gravity of the car body, and the resulting sense of security are a good thing.

The strength of the steel wheel is much larger than that of the alloy wheel. A very large external force is required to bend the steel wheel, so it hardly breaks. Given its regular practical appearance, pure surface damage does not matter.

You can put covers on steel wheels to make them look like alloy wheels. These covers usually match OEM steel wheels and are also available online. This kind of cover is not strong enough and looks inferior. Most of them are connected to the wheel hub through spring steel friction clips. Therefore, it often falls off and rolls away when it is inconvenient, which makes the owner distressed.

The size of steel wheels is usually within 16 inches. There are also a few steel wheels that are 17 inches, but as far as I know, there are no 18 inches. As you can imagine, if there were 18-inch steel wheels, it would be a bit ridiculous. Therefore, the use of steel wheels typically involves a process of size reduction.

Due to the oversized brake calipers or some other suspension problems, some high-performance cars cannot be equipped with reduced-size steel wheels.

Under normal circumstances, steel wheels are 75%-80% cheaper than alloy wheels, so it is convenient to prepare a set of spare ones, and the replacement cost after serious damage is relatively low.

When you pursue high performance and exquisite appearance, alloy wheels are the only choice. For those serious everyday drivers who do not pursue beauty or do not use fancy performances as a means of making a living, steel wheels are usually a better choice. For additional snow season wheels, the choice of steel wheels is especially ideal.