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ALLOY WHEEL INFORMATION:
Characteristics
Alcoa's heavy-duty alloy wheel, for buses and trucks.
Lighter wheels can improve handling by reducing unsprung mass, allowing
suspension to follow the terrain more closely and thus improve grip, however not
all alloy wheels are lighter than their steel equivalents. Reduction in overall
vehicle mass can also help to reduce fuel consumption.
Better heat conduction can help dissipate heat from the brakes, which improves
braking performance in more demanding driving conditions and reduces the chance
of brake failure due to overheating.
An aluminium alloy wheel
Alloy wheels are also purchased for cosmetic purposes although the alloys used
are not corrosion-resistant. Alloys allow the use of attractive bare-metal
finishes, but these require to be sealed with paint or wheel covers. Even if so
protected the wheels in use will eventually start to corrode after 3 to 5 years
but refurbishment is now widely available at a cost. The manufacturing processes
also allow intricate, bold designs. In contrast, steel wheels are usually
pressed from sheet metal, and then welded together (often leaving unsightly
bumps) and must be painted to avoid corrosion and/or hidden with wheel covers /
hub caps.
Alloy wheels are prone to galvanic corrosion if appropriate preventive measures
are not taken, which can in turn cause the tires to leak air. Also, alloy wheels
are more difficult to repair than steel wheels when bent, but their higher price
usually makes repairs cheaper than replacement and even severely damaged wheels
can often be repaired to like new using a 10 point process [1], though this
depends on how badly the owner wishes to salvage the wheel and its intrinsic
worth or availability.
Chrysler alloy wheel
Alloy wheels are more expensive to produce than standard steel wheels, and thus
are often not included as standard equipment, instead being marketed as optional
add-ons or as part of a more expensive trim package. However, alloy wheels have
become considerably more common since 2000[citation needed], now being offered
on economy and subcompact cars, compared to a decade earlier where alloy wheels
were often not factory options on inexpensive vehicles. Alloy wheels have long
been included as standard equipment on higher-priced luxury or sports cars, with
larger-sized or "exclusive" alloy wheels being options. The high cost of alloy
wheels makes them attractive to thieves; to counter this, automakers and dealers
often use locking wheel nuts which require a special key to remove.
Most alloy wheels are manufactured using casting, but some are forged. Forged
wheels are usually lighter, stronger, but much more expensive than cast
wheels.
[edit] Aftermarket wheels
A sizeable selection of alloy wheels (sometimes called "mags"—see below) are
available to automobile owners who want lighter, more visually appealing, rarer,
and/or larger wheels on their cars. Many people may think that large wheels
automatically result in increased performance, handling and suspension, yet Car
and Driver [2] performed a test of different sized wheels from 15" to 19" all
outfitted with the same make and model of tires and showed that both 0-60 times
and fuel economy were reduced with larger wheels. They also noted that ride
comfort and noise were negatively affected by the larger wheels. The larger
aftermarket wheels and the corresponding tires have considerably higher cost and
weight, for little benefit in return. The aura of larger wheels apparently is
that they seem to signify luxury, sportiness, or wealth. These wheels have
become a part of pop culture (as with "dubs").
[edit] Aftermarket brands
The many aftermarket wheel brands include PDW Wheels, TSW Alloy Wheels, BMF
Wheels, Eurotech Wheels, Zforce, Akuza, Incubus, Viscera, Cattivo, Ballistic,
Menzari, Devino, Eta Beta Wheels, Antera, Marchesini, Sparco, Speedline,
TeamDynamics, NAD Wheels, R2 Wheels, Lowenhart, Rial, Orobica Line, M.B Italia,
Toora, G.M.P Italia, Vellano, MOZ, Watanabe, SSR Wheels, Wolfhart, Wolfrace,
Panther Wheel, American Racing Wheels, UsaRim, Motegi Racing Performance Wheels,
Weld Racing, BBS Wheels, CMS, 5Zigen, Volk Racing, Konig Wheels and Rimstock.
Most aftermarket wheels are cast, while only a few above are forged, such as
Vellano, and Weld. Many companies have been formed over the years (some
recently) due to the increasing demand from street racing enthusiasts and the
rising demand for larger diameter wheels. MHT wheel markets a brand under the
name DUB that offers a Spinner wheel, the centre of the wheel continues spinning
after the vehicle comes to a stop, and the Floater, the centre of the wheel
stays stationary during movement giving the look that the vehicle isn't moving.
Cast aftermarket wheels have also been oversaturated due to the vast influx of
inexpensive chrome wheels from China. India, through Synergies Castings Ltd. and
other companies, of late have also emerged as a major supplier of alloy/chrome
wheels. They manufacture products to global scale due to primarily cheap but
highly skilled and qualified labour.
American Racing, which owns Motegi Racing and Weld Racing among other brands
such as TIS, TIS Modular, is the oldest aftermarket wheel company dating back to
1956. The oldest British company is Wolfrace who was the first company to offer
a polished alloy wheel in Europe and to achieve TUV approval. Wolfrace also
provided the wheels for thrust SSC and the UK's land speed record bid. A recent
trend in the industry includes joint venture partnerships being formed between
offshore manufacturers and local importers/distributors such as PDW Wheels which
started in Australia in 2006, amongst a few others. Most wheel brands are
ultimately sold through dealers such as RhinoTuning.
Some "aftermarket" are/were also available as Original equipment manufacturer
(OEM) fitments, with BBS being a notable original equipment supplier to
Volkswagen.
Some manufacturers also share patterns and castings, with an example
(motorcycle) being the licensing of Marchesini 5-spoke design to Brembo, for the
production of alloy (non-magnesium) wheels for Ducati road bikes.
[edit] Magnesium alloy wheels
Magnesium alloy wheel on a Porsche Carrera GT
Magnesium alloy wheels, or "mag wheels", are sometimes used on racing cars, in
place of heavier steel or aluminium wheels, for better performance. The wheels
are produced by one-step hot forging from a magnesium alloy known as ZK60, AZ31
or AZ91 (MA14 in Russia). Cast magnesium disks are used in motorcycle wheels.
The mass of a typical magnesium automotive wheel is about 5–9 kg (depending on
size).[3]
Magnesium wheels are flammable and have been banned in some forms of motorsport
in the UK following fires which are very difficult to extinguish. Mag wheels
have been known to catch fire in competition use after a punctured tire has
allowed prolonged scraping of the wheel on the road surface.
Some variants of magnesium alloy wheels may have low corrosion resistance.
They have the disadvantages of being expensive and not practical for most road
vehicles. Aluminium wheels are often mistakenly called "mag wheels".
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