Carazoo.com is the First Car Portal in India with Interactive Car Animations.
Everyone is talking about alloy wheels these days. It is the hottest accessory on a car be it a small car or luxury cars. Alloy wheels are the preferred decoration on a car for modification enthusiasts. All wheel technology has allowed hot rodders and muscle car enthusiasts to be encouraged to aspire for greater speeds. It has inspired a new generation of performance savvy- car drivers. Why are alloy wheels such a craze now!
Apart from their lightweight, alloy wheels improve steering and speed of car. They come with an endless choice of design too. They can be fit on any car, pick-truck or an SUV. Let us look into what is an alloy wheel.
The alloy wheels are formed or either aluminum or magnesium or sometime both the metals. The term alloy means the process of combining other raw materials to a specification to achieve a performance metal. Alloy wheels are better heat conductors than steel wheels, which helps improve heat dissipation from the brakes and helps reduce chances for brake failure in tough driving conditions.
Alloy wheels made of magnesium were popularized in 1960’s, however they were prone to flammability and offered poor corrosive resistance. That is when wheel manufacturers shifted to the more stable aluminum. Just like the steel wheels, alloys are formed by either casting or forging mechanism.
Advantages of alloy versus steel wheels
Steel wheel are standard type wheels sold in high volumes. Alloys offer exclusivity.
Steel wheels have limitation during high performance driving. Alloys offer better stability and strength during high performance driving.
The total weight of the wheels, tires, suspension and drivetrain equipments contribute to the weight of the car. This affects ride quality and traction during high speed driving. Since alloy wheel weight one third of steel wheels, they help reduced weight. They help improve acceleration, traction, and braking due to reduced weight. The unintentional but a definite advantage is that fuel economy increases.
Alloy wheels offer a more aesthetical appeal. Aluminum alloy can be used to produce a variety of wheel patterns. This flexibility has opened pandora’s box of creativity for one off designs or mass production wheels.
History of alloy wheels
Alloy wheels were created by drag racing innovator Romeo Palamides. He began utilized magnesium metal to develop lightweight custom wheels for racing. He founded the American Racing Equipment Inc in 1956, which marketed alloy wheels for muscle cars which were a huge craze then. Alloy wheels were used on the famous 1968 Mustang in movie Bullitt. Similar companies sprung up on the other side of the Atlantic in Europe. The growth of Sports cars and SUVs fuelled alloy wheel growth.
Some automotive companies like the General Motors, BMW and Mercedes produced their own custom wheels sold through their dealerships. Nearly all modern BMW, Mercedes, Audi and other luxury cars offer alloy wheels has standard equipment.
Alloy wheels are highly costly equipments. Alloy prices could start from Rs 5,000 onwards and can go up to several lakhs. Magnesium alloy wheels are more expensive, particularly if they are fitted in premium sports cars intended for racing. The price of alloy wheels is in addition to tires used for the vehicles.
- Related Articles
- Related Q&A
- What Are Alloy Wheels?
- The Skinny on Alloy Wheels
- The Zinc-aluminium Die Casting Alloys
- Are Alloy Wheels a Blessing or a Curse?
- Parts Of A Skateboard – The Deck, Wheels, Bearings And Truck
- Alloy Wheels Help Improve Car Performance
- Protect Your Alloys and Cut Your Car Insurance Premiums
- Customise Your Ride With Chrome Rims
Tacoma tail lights – add style to reliability
By: Louie | 28/11/2009Considering it has been more than a hundred years since the car was invented one wonders how come reliability is still a selling point. Surely one would expect that after all these years of technical developments all cars would be completely reliable by now.
Striping San Diego: Here’s What You Need To Look For
By: Lenny Samuel | 28/11/2009Ask any business owner in the San Diego area and they will tell you that getting the right striping San Diego company to look after their parking lot is a necessity. There's more to having a functional parking lot than first meets the eye and a savvy business owner knows that you need the professionals to look after everything from sign installation to asphalt repair.
Asphalt Repair Is a Critical Feature of Striping San Diego
By: Lenny Samuel | 28/11/2009One of the most overlooked aspects of any successful business is the parking lot. In many different ways the parking lot is the first calling card that people will see when they come to your shop. For that reason, you need to be sure to have some professionals on your side, the kind of people who know about all the different aspects that go into a successful parking lot including asphalt repair.
ADA Compliance Is Necessary For Your Parking Lot
By: Lenny Samuel | 28/11/2009There are many different things that business owners need to consider when they’re opening a business and the parking lot is often the first thing that customers see when they first happen on the place. There’s more to an attractive lot than first meets the eye. Parking lots need to follow ADA compliance to ensure that they are accessible to handicapped people and therefore legal.
Preparing Used Cars For Sale
By: Ira Benet | 28/11/2009When you’ve got used cars for sale and you want to get rid of them quickly, the Internet is the logical choice. By selling those cars online, more people will see them than with any other medium and because of the vaster audience you stand a better chance of getting the money that you’re asking for them.
Sorting Through All Those Used Cars For Sale
By: Ira Benet | 28/11/2009When you’ve decided like a lot of other Americans that you’re in the market for one of the used cars for sale that are on the Internet, it’s good to be both excited and wary at the same time. Remember that while the Internet is the place where you’ll find that dream car that you’ve been looking for, making that vehicle your own requires that you understand something about how buying cheap used cars on the Internet works.
Looking For Used Cars For Sale? Try The Web
By: Ira Benet | 28/11/2009The Internet has made a difference in many diverse businesses but perhaps one of the places where it's made its biggest impact is with people looking for used cars for sale on the web. There are many different reasons why buying used cars online has become the best way to get what you want within your budget. Here are just some of the bigger ones.
How Window Glass is Made
By: Rick Hermosillo | 27/11/2009Window glass is all around you. You can probably see outside through a piece of window glass right now. It's likely you'll be in a car today looking through another pane of glass. Maybe later you'll rest a cup of water on a glass coffee table. But how is all this glass made?
A Quick Look at Ford Motor Company
By: Carazoo.com | 05/10/2009 | CarsFord Motor Company was established in June 1903 by Henry Ford. The company has its headquarters in Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.
Top 3 Cars With Unusual Designs
By: Carazoo.com | 01/10/2009 | CarsCar designs are a result of imagination. But sometimes, the flight of fancy can take to another level and consequently, car designers come up with car designs that are unconventional and unusual. Here are top 3 cars with weird designs:
A Look at Concept Cars
By: Carazoo.com | 30/09/2009 | CarsA concept car has many roles to play in the automotive industry. Concept cars can be used by manufacturers to estimate the public opinion of a new model or even an entire design philosophy. Concept cars are also used as experimental design projects called styling exercises.
Top 5 Nostalgic Indian Cars
By: Carazoo.com | 29/09/2009 | CarsIndian roads have been graced by numerous cars till date. Some of these cars were phased out and many still continue to exist.
3 Best Muscle Cars of the World
By: Carazoo.com | 23/09/2009 | CarsThe period starting from 1964 to 1972 is termed as the ‘muscle car’ era. This period marks an important age in the automotive history. This age has set trend for the new generation sports cars.
Origin of Names of Car Companies
By: Carazoo.com | 21/09/2009 | CarsAll car lovers show an interest in the history or origin of car company, how it began, who founded it, where and why. But have you ever given a thought on the names of the car companies? In most of the cases, we have found that the originators of the car company gave their names to their companies.
India & Automatic Transmission Gearbox
By: Carazoo.com | 18/09/2009 | CarsIndia is comparatively new to the automatic transmission concept. There were only a handful of imported models that came with automatic transmission in India some five years back.
Indian Car Industry Lights Festive Crackers
By: Carazoo.com | 15/09/2009 | CarsThe Indian car industry is readying for the upcoming festive season with pomp and gaiety.