alloy vs aluminum
Joined: Jul 2002
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From: Washington DC
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The sole reason for creating an alloy is to make it stronger, tougher, etc....
Aluminum in pure form is very soft, ductile and malleable (you can deform it), so its alloyed with things like nickel, magnesium, silicon and zinc to make it harder. and stronger so it can withstand potholes and corner loading.
Aluminum in pure form is very soft, ductile and malleable (you can deform it), so its alloyed with things like nickel, magnesium, silicon and zinc to make it harder. and stronger so it can withstand potholes and corner loading.
Joined: Aug 2001
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From: Gaithersburg, MD
Rep Power: 413 aluminum rims, though somewhat still alloy, are lighter and predominatly used on drag cars. For daily driving you need aluminum alloys.
Registered!!
Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Anniston, Alabama, US
Rep Power: 307 Okay, let's all agree that aluminum wheels are really aluminum alloy wheels. So the question of aluminum or alloy is not important.
What is important is CAST vs. FORGED.
Cast wheels are molten alloy poured into a cast. Then cooled, finished usually on the outside rim of the wheel, but not always. Almost always one piece.
Forged wheels are a better grade of alloy heated then pressed by tremendous pressure to assure strength and light weight by better grain structure. Usually 2 to 3 piece. Most of the time stronger, and almost always lighter. Now getting a wheel that is stronger and lighter is always better, the downside is of course cost.
Forged wheels cost 3 to 5 times what cast wheels cost. For an example. Racing Hart C2's cost about 500 dollars each. The replicas made by the same parent company (cast one piece) called Racing Hart EVO C2 is about 200 dollars a wheel.
As always, price, reliability, speed. PICK 2.
Please no discussions on Racing Hart. I freely admit that Dazz Motorsports owns the rights/markets both wheels and that EVOs are licensed replicas only. Yes, I knew this when I bought them.
What is important is CAST vs. FORGED.
Cast wheels are molten alloy poured into a cast. Then cooled, finished usually on the outside rim of the wheel, but not always. Almost always one piece.
Forged wheels are a better grade of alloy heated then pressed by tremendous pressure to assure strength and light weight by better grain structure. Usually 2 to 3 piece. Most of the time stronger, and almost always lighter. Now getting a wheel that is stronger and lighter is always better, the downside is of course cost.
Forged wheels cost 3 to 5 times what cast wheels cost. For an example. Racing Hart C2's cost about 500 dollars each. The replicas made by the same parent company (cast one piece) called Racing Hart EVO C2 is about 200 dollars a wheel.
As always, price, reliability, speed. PICK 2.
Please no discussions on Racing Hart. I freely admit that Dazz Motorsports owns the rights/markets both wheels and that EVOs are licensed replicas only. Yes, I knew this when I bought them.
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 10,857
Likes: 0
From: Gaithersburg, MD
Rep Power: 413 Everywheel has different amounts of different metals in them, so determining how much is aluminum and how much is the rest of the metals is very difficult to determine. I agree that what is more important is cast vs forged.
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