For reference, here’s a link to a good primer that explains tires & wheels, including aspect ratios.
Enjoy!
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html
Alloy wheels “Looking Better” does not work for me. When inside the car you can’t see your wheels. Does anyone sincerely believe that your ordinary alloy wheels are seen by others? Some people can’t even see my whole car.
I would pay extra to get steel wheels to replace alloy wheels on a new car. Our best handling and best riding car, a VW, has 13" steel wheels. It corners very well and the braking is quite adequate. In my view, car marketing people have done a number on a gullible public with alloy wheels.
Alloy wheels are fine for motorcycles that are not normally ridden on salty roads and are not inclined to brush against curbs. Alloy, not steel spoked wheels permit tubeless tires. Tire tubes are potential trouble on a bike due to tube pinches plus you can’t plug a flat to quickly continue riding with no spare tire.
About those tube pinches @WhaWho, properly mounting the tire and tube with a generous amount of talcum will greatly reduce such a problem.
Wha Who, I agree with you re Al alloy wheels. Ditto low profile tires.
I’m a big fan of good looking, high quality alloy wheels with reasonable (50 series or higher) profile tires. My beef? Black alloy wheels. Why bother?
Of course, I have no salt to contend with…
Thanks @db4690
I should have been more careful in typing.
The biggest gripe I have is when the vehicle manufacturer uses a crimp on wheel weight on an alloy wheel right from the factory. Guaranteed to bite through the protective coating and start the corrosion process from day 1…
Alloy wheels are fine for motorcycles that are not normally ridden on salty roads and are not inclined to brush against curbs. Alloy, not steel spoked wheels permit tubeless tires. Tire tubes are potential trouble on a bike due to tube pinches plus you can't plug a flat to quickly continue riding with no spare tire.
Yep, my current bike has alloy wheels and tubeless tires. I was a major consideration in choosing that bike, along with EFI instead of carbs.
With tubeless tires, if you pick up a nail, you can usually make it home before the tire goes flat.
Why is it always the rear tire that picks up nails? It’s really rare to experience a front tire puncture on a motorcycle but the rear tire seems to be a magnet for every nail on the road.
B.L.E. - The rear tire picks up more debris, and goes flat more often, because there is usually more weight on it than the front tire, except under hard braking (due to weight transfer). This principle holds true for bicycle tires where most cyclists end up with far more rear tire flats.
Another reason some claim is the front wheel stands up the nail, ready to stick the rear tire. Some folks put a flap under the engine to knock it back down. Honest!
I didn’t see it mentioned, but one advantage to Al rims is that they’re STIFFER, they flex less under cornering. That’s a performance advantage, over and above weight.
I didn’t see it mentioned, but one advantage to Al rims is that they’re STIFFER, they flex less under cornering. That’s a performance advantage, over and above weight.
I was thinking the same thing but hadn’t had a chance to post it.
Drive your car with steel wheels. Then swap out for a set of alloys, same size, and with the same tires. You’ll be surprised at the improvement in handling. For most cars and trucks anyway.
Steel absorbs vibration better than aluminum, but with the strengthening convolutions stamped into the steel rims for strength and stiffness I don’t know if the alloys are really stiffer. Some of the aftermarket rims are of so little material that they’re scary to my eye.
I have to replace two rims due to pothole damage, and I’ve been looking at my options. My OEM rims are really robust, so I’ll probably stick with them rather than getting four steel rims (if they even make steel rims to fit my car and tire size). But in truth I prefer steel.
Re: @asemaster - "Drive your car with steel wheels. Then swap out for a set of alloys, same size, and with the same tires. You’ll be surprised at the improvement in handling. For most cars and trucks anyway. "
I’d like to try that, but it sounds like an expensive(and time consuming) experiment . . .
I’d like to try that, but it sounds like an expensive(and time consuming) experiment . . .
Not really. You drive your car to the tire shop. You have them install the wheels you’ve picked out to make your car look good and not be like every other car out there. You drive home. It’s time and money you would have spent anyway!! haha.
Huh? Well, its not time OR money I would have ever spent anyway. . . I’ve been driving the same car on the same steel rims it came with for about 20 years now, WHY would I now go and buy alloy rims?
I thought the experiment was swap out the alloys with the same tires, then, IF I’m NOT “surprised at the improvement in handling” take it back to the shop and have them take the tires OFF the alloy wheels and reinstall them back on my original steel rims. . . 
Bet that salesman will be glad to see me. . . 
and I’m gonna tell 'im you sent me. . . 
I’ve been driving the same car on the same steel rims it came with for about 20 years now, WHY would I now go and buy alloy rims?
I look at it this way. I wouldn’t wear the same clothes or shoes that I did 20 years ago, even if they weren’t worn out. (The fact that the white Levis I wore in 1985 won’t fit me anymore is a different story.) Because they’d be stale, out of fashion, wouldn’t look good, whatever. Change is good. And if you can afford it, why not? Do something that makes you happy once in a while.
I’ve always worked in an automotive setting and have been able to install my own tires and wheels. I was just remarking that I could drive in to work in the morning on stock steel wheels and drive home on a new set of alloys with the same tires. And I always noticed a marked difference in the way the car or truck handled.
If I remember correctly, Ed drives an econobox
It makes absolutely no financial sense to throw alloys at the car.
Even if the new alloys improve the car’s handling, it’s still an econobox
If I was wrong about the car . . . my apologies 
I’ve been driving the same car on the same steel rims it came with for about 20 years now, WHY would I now go and buy alloy rims?
As this vehicle seems to be near its end perhaps consider this on your next vehicle.
It is up to the individual what they do with their money. If you had replaced the belt, tensioner and oxygen sensor on your Grand Cherokee yourself you would have enough money left over for custom wheels on the vehicle of your choice.
I replaced the steel wheels/plastic wheel covers on my car 15 years ago and I am satisfied with them.
In order to get valid results out of that experiment, the driver would have to test the car without knowing whether the car had alloy wheels or steel wheels, and with the same tires mounted to the steel wheels as were used on the alloy wheels, to keep the driver’s prejudices and the placebo effect from influencing the outcome of the test.