oem wheels : However, performance enhancement is also a primary factor. I couldn't mountthe Z rated performance tires that I wanted on my OEM wheels because thewheels were simply too narrow. IMHO - the change from OEM tires/wheels toperformance tires/wheels are about the single most cost effectiveimprovement in handling I could make while maintaining my car's everydayride comfort. Impacts of the new tire/wheel combination that I experiencedwere an immediate and significant improvement in handling in every way! And,I loose those improvements immediately when I install my snow tires that aremounted on the OEM wheels. Subsequent changes I might make tospring/shock/sway bars, and etc. will not be fully appreciated, implemented,or tested unless I've got good tires on the road. I guess the summarystatement here is that aftermarket wheels can give you access to a muchgreater range of high performance tires and it's the wheel/tire combinationthat impacts performance.While I didn't change the aspect ratio of my tires, many people want to goto low aspect tires (45,50 series) performance tires and simultaneouslyincrease wheel diameter (i.e. go from 15 inch 60 series tires/wheels to16,17,18 inch wheels) without impacting speedometer calibration. Thesechanges can be accomplished with aftermarket wheels and they significantlychange the handling characteristics of a car.
oem wheels : As to wheel locks ... I don't think anyone can ever guarantee 100%protection from a skilled thief. I have wheel locks on my car, but my beliefis that I'm accomplishing only two things; 1) I'm putting a barrier up forthe unskilled/casual thief; and 2) I'm introducing a time delay which mayallow a witness to notice a theft and report it. However, I don't rely onthe locks for theft prevention and I'm cautious as to when/where I park mycar.---------------------------------------- ----gray-bearded tramp miner looking for work(experienced mine planner available)------------------------------ ------------Really? In what way do they change the handling? Stiffer feel and hencebetter handling analogous to the effect of a stiffer suspension? Is itbetter handling or just different feel (i.e. a personal preference)? Wow,45,50 aspect. The new car I'm looking at has the option of regular tires(65R14) and alloy tires (55R15); I find the 55 pretty low/slim and sort ofunappealing visually (combined with the extra open space due to alloy wheelspoke design the low aspect seems to take away from the solid/rugged lookfactor of the small car).There is less sidewall flex in a lower profile tire, leading to a moredirect connection with the road. The higher performance tires alsotend to come in the lower profile sizes, so you tend to get betterrubber as well.
oem wheels : As far as the wheels themselves go, lighter is almost always better(unless it sacrifices significant strength). IIRC, one pound ofunsprung weight is worth about four pounds of sprung weight.A lighter wheel means less mass to accelerate when either using thethrottle or the brake, it also means it is easier for the suspensionto keep the tire stuck on the road where it should be.My guess was the opposite. If the sidewall (rubber) flexes then wouldn't itcause the tire to flatten out and increase the area of contact with theroad?Approx. how much lighter (%) is alloy vs steel rim?Do racing cars (Formula 1 and stock cars) use alloy wheels?I analogize (but perhaps I should't?) to a bicycle. With a bike it's myguess that heavy steel rims compared to light aluminum rims makes a bigdifference because it's big component of the overall weight of the bike andthe weight is concentrated along the circumference. But isn't the weight ofrims in a car an insignificant fraction of the total car inertia which theengine has to overcome in order to accelerate the car?Isn't the only function of the suspension to dampen vertical bouncingmovement and allow some tilt during hard cornering; this keeps the tirestuck to the road. So I don't see the connection between wheel rim weightand suspension performance.
oem wheels : If it flexes, there is more room for variance between driver inputsand the road connection.IIRC means "If I recall correctly". Sprung weight is the weight thatthe suspension holds up, ie everything but wheels, tires, brakes,etc....An alloy rim is almost always lighter than a comparably sized steelrim, but how much lighter depends on how much you want to pay for it.There is a 19lb weight rule for some circle-track classes, so the steelwheels they use are not so weak they're trashed rapidly. Supposedto be one of those cost-reduction rules. They make cheater wheelsthat are 19lb, but most of the mass is at the hub for lower polar inertia.And people wonder why I love 13" wheels... keep it all light andthe shocks don't NEED to be stiff. That way, the tires stay on theground instead of bouncing all over the place.Too bad my cars have such odd bolt patterns - I have a set ofsuper light factory Miata wheels in my garage and they don't fiton anything I have. That means I have to buy a Miata. :-)Also, if it flexes too much in cornering, you wind up driving on thesidewalls instead of tread (rollover). Not good. If it gets too bad,you can roll the tire right off the rim.
oem wheels : I want 3 season tires with good wet weather performance, goodhandling, good ride, and good wear. I have been running the standardcontis and am ready for a change. Winter driving / car washes / etc have made my OEM wheels ugly, and Iwant to save them for winter tires. So I want nice looking wheels thatare easy to clean (it's a wagon, so I don't want anything racy). And Iwant something cheaper than the outrageous prices for a new set of OEMwheels. however, I tried to purchase a set of ATP type 8 wheels (15 inch) fromthe Tire Rack for winter, and the lug nuts supplied (two sets, Brianmade sure the second set were "correct") were just a tad too long andafter two trips to the dealer had to return them (sadly). That sort of put me off of the whole aftermarket wheel thing. Notethat the dealer did not charge me for trying to make the ATP's fit,they only charged me to mount the snows back onto my original OEMwheels, so I don't think they were out to screw me (there were morethan 2 hours of labor I didn't pay for while they were trying to getthe ATPs to fit onto the car). Furthermore, I have had no problemswith the OEM wheels since.
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