How to choose the right alloy wheels

Correctly and correctly selected drives for the car - it's not only your safety and concern for passengers, but also a low fuel consumption along with an extended service life of the transmission and a fascinating look of a stylish car.

Let's try to figure out how to choose the right alloy wheels and use them competently. In the calculation will be taken the opinions of intelligent experts in this field and the recommendations of popular manufacturers of light alloy products.

Types of discs

All wheel disks can be divided into two groups - steel and light-alloy (casting). The design of the stamped wheels is simple and straightforward. Sheet steel is stamped and individual parts are joined together by spot welding. Then the disc is painted and sent to the store or to the conveyor.

This method of equipping the car with discs is simple and inexpensive. A significant mass of cars coming off the conveyor have exactly these wheels. Installation of casting is an additional option, for which you need to pay a decent amount.

Before choosing cast discs instead of steel wheels, in favor of the latter one can say that they have a higher impact toughness, which means that after strong impacts they do not crumble and do not crack, but only deform. This feature allows you to restore the disc, even if the edges are strongly crumpled.

A significant drawback of stamped products, which is critical for many car enthusiasts, is the mass. And it can not be reduced, because the insufficient thickness of the walls significantly reduces the strength of the entire wheel. In addition, steel models are susceptible to corrosion if the integrity of the protective coating is impaired. It also includes a monotonous and boring appearance, difficulties with wheel balancing and a negative effect on the dynamics of acceleration.

Alloy wheels

Before you select alloy wheels, it is useful to learn some advantages. Light alloy models have extensive design capabilities along with high manufacturing precision. They are able to divert most of the heat from the main nodes, but the most important thing is the ease of construction. To judge the specific merits of these or other models, you can, if you know how they are cast and using which alloy. So in this case the wheel is different.

Ordinary models are produced by casting or forging from stable alloys, where aluminum, titanium or magnesium is the basis. Magnesium and titanium models are much stronger and lighter than aluminum wheels. Before choosing alloy wheels on a magnesium base, be aware that they are less resistant to corrosion, which means you have to constantly take care of the multi-layered protective coating. As for titanium, it is already an elite group, which is completed on very expensive, sports and simply prestigious cars. For everyday driving on our roads titanium models are just a pity to use. Despite all the strength of such products, they are prone to scratches.

Difficulties in choosing

Before you choose alloy wheels on the car, remember that the purchase should be determined by your needs and, of course, the amount in the purse. If your path is megacities and large cities, then the ideal option will be magnesium or aluminum casting. Are there free finances? Please, titanium models are beautiful, ultra-reliable and will be a perfect addition to the elite entourage.

If you value reliability, often drive around the city on bad roads and do not attend social parties on your car, then it's better to stop on steel, forged or forged products. In this case they will not only be more practical, but they will save you the lion's share of the family budget.

How to choose the right alloy wheels on the car

In order to correctly select this or that model of the drive for your car, you need to clearly specify some critical parameters. The first thing we learn is the width and diameter of the disc. Then, we specify the location of the fastening holes and their number. Next, pay attention to the diameter of the hub of your car and the departure rate. All the basic installation dimensions can be found in the catalogs of tire and disk manufacturers or you can measure everything by using a special tool. Before you select alloy wheels on the car, and if there are any doubts, it's better to stop in an intelligent tire fitting and figure out everything there, drawing on the piece of paper all the dimensions and parameters we are interested in.

Diameter of the disk

This parameter is selected according to the recommendations of the manufacturer of your car. It must exactly match the landing diameter of the wheel. In recent years, more and more frequent extreme, which seek to increase the mounting diameter. For example, a 15-inch fit is rolled under 16, 17 or even 18-inch wheels.

All this is done to install low-profile rubber, which, on the one hand, increases the driving performance for the better, and on the other, increases the load on the main suspension components. And the comfort of driving on such tires is not the best. Before you choose the alloy wheels of this or that diameter, you must decide for yourself what is more important - sporting characteristics or driving convenience?

Width of rim

If the manufacturer's recommendations for your discs relative to the mounting diameter do not exceed 14 inches, the rim width will vary between 0.5-1.0 inches. For a mounting diameter greater than 15 inches, the width gauge will be slightly higher - 1.1-1.5 "for the rim.

What kind of cast wheel to choose, you decide, but the best, and more practical option will be a factory-width product. Operation of non-standard wheel models for your car is fraught with changes in the design profile of the tire, which can significantly worsen the main driving characteristics (drag resistance, reaction to the steering wheel and lateral rigidity).

Departure of wheel

Departure is the distance between the fixing plane of the wheel and the longitudinal plane of the rim (symmetry). The outreach of the wheel can have only three values: zero, positive and negative. The indicator is denoted by a numeric or alphabetic value. For example, ET40 (mm) is a positive flight, and ET-40 is already negative, so do not get confused and take a minus sign for a "dash" or "hyphen". The letter meaning is usually denoted by the words OFFSET and DEPORT.

Separately, it should be noted that the larger the departure, the deeper the car sits in the wheel grooves. And the smaller this indicator, the stronger the wheel bulges out of the niche outward. Most car owners tend to reduce this figure. In general, it is not entirely correct to deviate from the standard values that were set on the factory conveyor, but sometimes, due to certain circumstances (frequent driving on bumpy or, conversely, perfectly flat roads), you can adjust the departure in the right direction for a more comfortable ride.