Can Alloy rims affect your vehicle performance?

You’ve seen them around: family sedans with HUGE alloy rims.

Sometimes you also shake your head and wonder, all these riceboys. Don’t they realise the rim is just aesthetic and does not contribute to the car’s performance?

No they do. Let me explain.

Certain rally designed alloy rims are lighter (less weight = more speed) and also are designed to increase the cooling of the brake disks. Some designs have better build quality than others and some break very easily when hitting a pothole or curb at speed.

Always go for the best quality alloy rim that you can afford and read the reports and reviews. (Common sense lah!) Avoid buying a different overall size. If not, you’ll have to get the suspension and tracking realigned to avoid uneven wear under acceleration.

A lighter rim will improve handling because less weight is rotating around the hub so components such as suspension and brakes will last longer. The gaps in alloy rims also aid brake cooling and allow the brakes to do a better job at slowing up the car.

Big rims look ‘fierce’ but I have not found anyone yet who says that they have improved the ride or handling of their car, well, maybe higher fuel consumption.

Keep the overall rim width with tyre dimension as the OEM provided but go for a larger alloy and ultra low profile tyre if you really want the big wheel look.

Lower profile tyres are noisier and due to their low flexing they give excellent handling characteristics.

Wider alloys are much better than taller ones and improve the handling. Many users complain that taller rims affect the speed and handling adversely and cause bumpy & uneven rides.

Remember, for alloy rims, lighter is better.