Alloy wheels VS steel wheels: Beauty and the Beast

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

Alloy Wheels

Due to their advantages in appearance and performance, alloy wheels have become the standard option for most sedans. Unlike steel wheels, aluminum alloy can be cast into many different styles, providing more personalized appearance for sedans and more customization options for car owners.

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

Under the influence of roads, alloy wheels are indeed more prone to bending and deformation than steel wheels. If the bending is excessive, it can also cause fracture. The degree of bending and fracture depends on the proportion of nickel in the aluminum alloy - the higher the proportion of nickel, the heavier the alloy wheel, and the more brittle it is. The lower the proportion of nickel, the lighter the alloy wheel, and the weaker and more easily deformed it is. Different production processes such as casting or forging also affect the strength of alloy wheels.

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

Steel Wheels

Because they are not buffered by the suspension springs, the weight of the hub, tire, brake, and rotor are collectively referred to as unsprung mass.

For the same weight, the unsprung mass has a far greater impact on the car than the sprung mass. A small weight difference will have a significant impact.

Steel wheels are heavier than aluminum wheels, so when you install steel wheels on a car that originally had aluminum wheels, you will find that the extra weight will suppress its acceleration performance and flexibility, and lower the car's center of gravity, resulting in a driving experience like driving a tank.

Obviously, this performance of steel wheels is not suitable for summer, but in winter, this becomes a significant physical and psychological advantage. Heavier hubs allow tires to grip the snow more tightly, so when driving on snow, the suppressed acceleration and flexibility, the artificially lowered center of gravity, and the resulting sense of security are actually a good thing.

Steel wheels are much stronger than alloy wheels. It takes a very large external force to bend a steel wheel, so it is almost impossible to break. Given its conventional and practical appearance, purely surface damage is insignificant.

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. These covers are not sturdy and look a bit shoddy. Most are connected to the hub by spring steel friction clips, so they often fall off and roll away at inconvenient times, causing trouble for car owners.

Steel wheels are usually 16 inches or less. A few steel wheels are 17 inches, but as far as I know, there are no 18-inch steel wheels. One can imagine that if there were really 18-inch steel wheels, they would be ridiculously heavy. Therefore, using steel wheels usually involves a size reduction process.

Due to oversized brake calipers or other suspension issues, some high-performance cars cannot install smaller steel wheels.

Generally, steel wheels are 75%-80% cheaper than alloy wheels, making it easy to prepare a spare set. The replacement cost is also relatively low after severe damage.

When you pursue high performance and refined appearance, alloy wheels are the only choice. However, for serious daily drivers, those who don't pursue aesthetics or use cars for work without flashy performances, steel wheels are usually a better choice. Steel wheels are especially ideal for extra snow tires.