Which Weighs More?

Phil W

Phil W

Phil W

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Probably a daft question, but would a 15" Steel Wheel, or a 15" alloy wheel weight more?

Many thanks,

Phil
 
depends entirely on the alloy used. shape/design will have a large impact on the mass as will types of metals used. wouldn't surprise me if a steel wheel was lighter than most alloys.
 
Steel is an alloy :p The fancy stuff should weigh less, depends on the design and method of manufacture though.


Check this
http://www.wheelweights.net/

Lightest 15" alloys listed are :
Porsche 914 6cyl 5 stud - Forged MG - 15x 5.5 - 7lbs :cool:



Heaviest I could see were:
Enkei CTM-3 - Cast - 15 x 10 - 28.3lbs :eek:

Twice as thick ? but 4 times the weight is a bit lardy aint it
 
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When alloy wheels were new and exotic they weighed less than their steel counterparts, that was after all the point of them.

Nowadays alloys are a cosmetic item, as such they tend to be made from cheap alloys rather than light/strong ones, consequently many modern alloy wheels weight more than a standard steel wheel.
 
Lightest 15" alloys listed are :
Porsche 914 6cyl 5 stud - Forged MG - 15x 5.5 - 7lbs
Click to expand...

Magnesium! Not suitable for road useage, really but still. Very light!

Generally steels are lighter than alloys, for all intents and purposes in 'normal' applications.
 
Lightweight racing magnesium wheels can be too fragile to take the pounding that typical road wheels get. Being sucha reactive metal they also tend to corrode very easily.
 
Road alloys have a very heavy duty rim and the outer ring tends to be pretty thick too, mostly because road wheels have to take a lot of abuse over many years without cracking (aluminium will fatigue crack, steel never will). Even if a road-going alloy is close to the weight of steel equivalent, they have a lot of their mass a long way from the centre, so they have a much greater rotational momentum when spinning (and are harder to get spinning). Steels can give you better acceleration and better turn-in than most alloys because they have less rotational mass.
 
I want 15" steel wheels to replace the 15" alloy wheels thats currently on the car.

Weight difference is probably going to be marginal anyway, i was just curious more than anything...

The acceleration and handling comment is interesting though...
 
I notice a slight different from going from 15 alloy to 17 alloy wheels, slightly slower to pickup but much better handling with the lower profile rubber on.
 
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