Are alloy wheels worth having?

[Burnerman]

'Er indoors got a new motor yesterday.....whilst clearing out the old one, surfaced 5 spec cases, 4 lipsticks, 6 conkers, 3 brollies, 1 trainer, 4 bottles of mineral water, £20 odd in loose change, 2 phone chargers, 5 cd boxes minus cd's, a furry hat and an A-Z of Newcastle......that was the recognisable stuff.
Marvellous!
John

 

[Whitespirit66]

I'm about to blow £1400 on new alloys & tyres for my Civic for the looks.

 

[ladylola]

Not actually relevant but in LGV haulage the difference in weight can be important but another advantage is that it is said to help breaking performance at least for trucks with drum breaks . Aluminium being a better conductor than steel is said to remove heat from the drum which can be a factor especially in situations that require lots of breaking such as mountain driving.
However, as we are talking cars rather than lorries I can't see the point really unless you like the possibility of waking up to find your car on bricks.

 

[Agile]

Well I am now the not too proud owner of THREE alloys all needing new tyres.

But only discovered on reaching home that there is a matching pair of Cosmos which were I think OEM and a single one which is common but may not be OEM.

Based on your collective thoughts, I will see if I can get tyres for the two matching ones and try them on the front and see if there is any noticeable difference.

I will say that on my 206cc the low profile tyres on alloys do give a very bumpy ride and so much so that many ladies would not like it very much.

Tony

 

[JohnD]

you may need new wheelnuts.

I have always had manufacturer's original wheels so never been interested, but someone was telling me that steel-wheel nuts may crack alloys as the mating profile is different. I don't know how true that is.

 

[AlanE]

you may need new wheelnuts.

I have always had manufacturer's original wheels so never been interested, but someone was telling me that steel-wheel nuts may crack alloys as the mating profile is different. I don't know how true that is.

True.

 

[Avocet]

you may need new wheelnuts.

I have always had manufacturer's original wheels so never been interested, but someone was telling me that steel-wheel nuts may crack alloys as the mating profile is different. I don't know how true that is.

Make sure they're the correct offset. The offset is the distance from the centre of the tyre contact patch (i.e. cenrte ofthe wheel) to the mounting face of the wheel. On some wheels the mounting face is inboard of the tyre contact patch (i.e. the wheel centreline) and on others, outboard. That's critical from both a handling and clearance point of view. You might see the letters "ET followed by a number stamped (or cast into) the wheel. Something like "ET23 - which would mean the mounting face was 23mm outboard of the wheel centreline.

 

[CylonRaider]

Got my new wheels a couple of days ago and finally got them on today

Looking at the gap I could've got 45's (Tyres) on instead of 40's. Oh well that's what I'll put on next time.

Wheels are 18" x 8J

 

[Burnerman]

They compliment that motor very well - a good choice!
Do people bother telling their insurers these days? (Definitely not trying to sound like a radish here)
John

 

[foxhole]

I would not buy anything for a Peugeot, except maybe a can of petrol and a match.

 

[Peter.N.]

I'll tell you what, I've got a got 406 Hdi estate and I reckon they are the best car Peugeot or or anyone else for that matter has made. Its done 235,000 miles, still has the original clutch and DMF will do 60+mpg and has never broken down in the getting on for 50k miles I have owned it, and its one of the nicest cars I have driven. I got a couple more for friends and their experience has been similar. Its very roomy and comfortable and only £145 road tax and very cheap to maintaine - I will have another, don't want any of this modern rubbish.

Peter

 

[Avocet]

Just make sure that they're the same offset as well as diameter and width if you're going to mix and match. There's should be an "ET number" stamped or cast into the wheel somewhere.

No, I don't think you'd see any difference in handling and certainly not in acceleration. The mass of the tyre is right round the edge of the rim and that will dwarf the inertia of the rim.

 

[Agile]

What year is your 406 Peter?

Do you realise there is another Peter Nolan somewhere not too far from Shaftsbury ?

Tony

 

[Peter.N.]

Sorry for delay, been on holiday. Mine is march 01, just new enough to come into the lower tax bracket.

Didn't know about the other Peter, my name is Nutkins.

Peter

 

[RDD]

I like alloys and wheels in general, I think they "make" a car.

BUT when I have them I'm hyper paranoid about kerbing them, much cheaper to buy a replacement wheel trim from the manufacturer than repair an alloy!