Alloy rims are currently very popular among motorists. Excellent precision workmanship and balancing, low weight, high reliability and a wide variety of styles and designs – these and many other features have contributed to the fact that you can see “casting” instead of stamped iron discs on expensive foreign cars and old “pools”. All that is needed for the car enthusiast who wants to adjust his car is to choose the most suitable parameters for his car.

Which size of rim is chosen for your car? 

It depends on what exactly you want. The tester gives a higher rating to larger wheels in dry conditions due to more direct and accurate handling. In the wet, however, it turns out that the 17×3 inch rims behave better and are more predictable. In addition, the 17s undoubtedly offer a more comfortable ride, but at the expense of some stability. In terms of noise, the intermediate version with 18-inch tires seems to be the best and quietest.

In the end, the test team focused on the 18-inch wheels as the final choice. We need to add one more thing here. The bigger the rim, the more expensive it will be, not only it, but also the tire you have to put on. So when looking for new feet on the car, keep in mind that tires can be a serious budget item.

Types of alloy wheels 

Modern alloy rims are made of high-strength aluminum alloys and are balanced on the most precise optical equipment, as a result of which a perfect plane and no deviation are ensured while driving. In principle, the production of all disks can be divided into two conditional groups. 

Classic alloy wheels:

They are made of special aluminum alloys by injection molding, which leads to a uniform structure, correct geometry and balancing. They are processed on special equipment to balance to almost zero level and covered with special polymer compounds to obtain an aesthetic appearance.

DIGNITY 

A variety of styles and designs; Perfect balancing; Easy operation and ease of care; High quality; Size 13 to 25 inches; 

DISADVANTAGES 

Soft aluminum is easily damaged due to contact with hard surfaces and after entering the shaft; Best road models; Prone to cracking; Forged alloy wheels The principle of “forging” is similar to the above, but after casting the surface of the disk is treated with a special tool that significantly increases their mechanical strength and reduces the total weight. They are widely used in motorsport and among professional tuners, for whom the weight of the disc plays no less important than stylish design. DIGNITY Beautiful appearance; Perfectly balanced; Durable and abrasion resistant; Variety of colors and designs; Low weight; DISADVANTAGES Fragile, may crack if dropped into a deep hole. 

The main criteria for choosing aluminum wheels 

The choice of “casting” for a particular car always means solving a set of serious problems related to determining the compliance of the specific parameters of the drive with those declared by the car manufacturer. Pay attention to the following nuances. 

Cast disk diameter :

It has the most direct impact on the overall size of the wheel and the ability to install it on a specific car. Disks with diameters from 13 to 23-24 inches are available. Sizes from 14 to 17 inches are considered the most popular – most of these discs are installed on modern domestic cars and foreign cars. The larger the diameter of the casting, the more beautiful it looks and the harder it is to become the chassis when working on bad roads. The minimum and maximum diameters must fully comply with the parameters provided by the vehicle manufacturer. Exceeding the recommended diameter threatens that the disc will stick to the wheel, which overturns over the wheel arch bushing and will search for the wheel, but inserting a disc with a smaller diameter is often impossible – the brake caliper rests on the disc. The parameter that shows the number and size of the bolts that fix a certain drive to the car. This parameter is determined by the machine manufacturer, the disc is selected according to the number and diameter of the mounting holes in the hub. For example, the traditional BMW 5×120 loosening means that the five bolts with a length of 120 millimeters are used to secure the wheel. 

Diameter of the central hole of the hub 

Shows the size of the center hole in the hub of the car, designed to fix the outflow disc. Common values ​​are 71.5, 72.8, 74.2 millimeters. It is necessary to choose alloy wheels whose diameter of the central part corresponds to the hub of the car and the parameter specified by the manufacturer. In case the discs do not meet the CH parameter, you will need to use a special spacer to change this parameter. The spacer is a special transitional cylinder with a variable diameter – in one part the diameter of the central disk of the disk, and in the other – the central part of the hub; 

Disk crash 

The parameter that shows how far the end of the disk is from its landing surface. It is denoted by the letter ET and is measured in millimeters. The higher the value, the farther the center of the disc will be removed from its edge and the deeper the wheel will “sit” in the arch. For example, on the same car, the ET20 take-off wheels will protrude more from the arch than the ET47 take-off wheels. This option is selected solely on the basis of the recommendations of a specific car manufacturer. 

Disk width 

The wider the disc, the larger the contact area of ​​the tire with expensive and better performance. Negative factor – increased rutting: the car begins to behave too “nervously” on a rough road. Single wide alloy wheels with four wheel widths identical and wide wheels with different widths for the front and rear axles. The latter, as a rule, are designed for sports cars and provide improved handling and dynamics of the car. 

Disk weight

A significant parameter for the participants in various car races. The higher the weight of the wheel, the higher the unarmed weight of the car and the worse the dynamics of acceleration and deceleration. For this reason, racing drivers try to use light forged wheels, which “excite” them in special racing tires. With such manipulations the dynamics of acceleration is reduced by 0.4-0.5 seconds in the discipline 0-100 kilometers per hour.