Created by John James

Before we move on to everything about alloy wheels, we should understand what exactly are they. Technically speaking the word alloy means the mixture or combination of two or more metals. In case of the automobiles, an alloy wheel is a wheel made from the blend of two metals, Aluminium and Nickel. Although there are many different types of wheels available in the market, alloys have seen more market presence lately due to the unique properties they possess. They are lightweight, have heat resistance, don’t rust etc… All of these properties make automotive companies use them in making wheels for their cars.

Aluminium alloys being light in weight reduces the overall weight of the vehicle. This results in 2 main things. Alloy wheels are lighter than regular steel/chrome wheels. The lighter weight results in faster movement of the car, or in other words – quicker acceleration. This in turn helps in reducing overall fuel consumption or in other words increasing mile Also, alloy wheels, being lighter, put lesser tension on the suspension of the car. This increases the life of the parts of the suspension system.

Alloy wheels are not prone to rust, as compared to regular steel wheels. Thus, alloys of good quality are preferred because they are anticorrosive in nature. Nowadays, many alloy wheels sitting idle in markets for a long time are getting rusted because of their cheap quality.

Alloys have higher heat resistance than regular steel wheels. Due to the large amount of heat generated by the movement of wheels, regular steel wheels tend to absorb more heat. On the other hand, alloy wheels have the property to resist high levels of heat. This means they can transfer more heat than normal ones. This also improves the functioning of the brakes in demanding situations, as heat generated by applying brakes is released by conduction into the outside environment of the car.

Alloy wheels possess an element of beauty too (it is easier to create designs out of alloys). They look much sportier than steel wheels. So in addition to the above properties, their elegant appearance makes them a perfect deal from the buyer’s perspective. In fact, this is the main reason why buyers choose these in the first place, and why car manufacturers make them available in top-spec models only.

Buying Alloy Wheel is an expensive matter, as they cost way more than their steel counterparts. However, steel wheels are much more pocket friendly. The price of alloy wheels tends to be more than 75% that of steel wheels. And this is not a one-time purchase too, as maintaining them is also much more expensive as it requires a skilled technician. Many a time, they don’t have the potential to get repaired and hence are supposed to get changed, which means spending a lot of money once more.

Because of the fact that steel wheels are the winner in the battle of durability between Alloy wheels vs steel wheels, it is obvious that steel wheels last longer than alloys. While alloys last typically about 4 years, steel wheels can extend the same tenure by upto 1-2 years more i.e 6 years. However, one should always be cautious of the symptoms that the car wheels give, such as cracks in the rims, or treading of tires.

Since we already know that alloys have a positive effect on suspension, they are bound to perform well over bad roads too. In fact, alloys perform better in tough conditions like bad potholes, and unpaved roads because of its flexible nature.

Although most alloys are harder than steel, steel still emerge as the winner in rough and tough usage in the battle of Alloy Wheels Vs Steel Wheels. In the case of alloys, they tend to crack and fracture more easily under pressure than steel wheels. And repairing them is extremely difficult, so one ends up buying new wheels instead, which as already mentioned before, is an expensive affair.

Alloy Wheels add up to the performance of the vehicle in many ways. Alloy wheels act as booster dose when it comes to the performance of an automobile. You will be surprised to know the wonders it does to your vehicle. Since aluminium alloys are light in weight so they create a better suspension as compared to other metals like steel. The better suspension directly leads to higher overall performance of the car, as the efficiency levels increase.