Is there such a thing as ' winter ' alloy wheels ?

[Chuvalo]

With winter looming, I've usually got a set winter tires and ' steelies ' for ready to swap in for the winter.

That said, I've noticed some local tire shops are offering ' winter tire / allow wheel ' packages for the upcoming winter.

Would these likely just be standard 4 season alloy wheels or do some alloy wheel manufacturers make some brands of wheels specifically for winter - i.e special coatings, designed to minimize snow / ice build-up ?

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

My guess is they would resist corrosion better then steel would.

 

[MotF Bane]

My suspicion is that those are regular alloy wheels, just wearing snow tires.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Doubt it. That reminds me, it'll soon be time to put on those yard wheels wrapped in Xi2s

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I doubt there's anything different about them.

I use alloy wheels (17" Rota Torques) with my winter tires and have not had any problems with staining, peeling or corrosion after 3 winters in one of the harshest winter climates in the US - they use a ton of salt and sand on the roads here. I wash my car every time I buy gas, which must help.

 

[Howard]

I doubt there's anything different about them.

I use alloy wheels (17" Rota Torques) with my winter tires and have not had any problems with staining, peeling or corrosion after 3 winters in one of the harshest winter climates in the US - they use a ton of salt and sand on the roads here. I wash my car every time I buy gas, which must help.

Automatic car wash? Or with the (god forbid) squeegee at the pump?

 

[Throckmorton]

They're made slightly bigger to compensate for the metal contracting at lower winter temperatures.

Keep in mind, winter wheels made for the northern hemisphere won't work in the southern hemisphere and vice versa, since the seasons are reversed.

 

[halik]

I doubt there's anything different about them.

I use alloy wheels (17" Rota Torques) with my winter tires and have not had any problems with staining, peeling or corrosion after 3 winters in one of the harshest winter climates in the US - they use a ton of salt and sand on the roads here. I wash my car every time I buy gas, which must help.

I've got a set of OEM 17s for my m3 and there is a decent amount of clearcoat peeling etc. on them. I don't think steel wheels would clear the brakes.

 

[Ronstang]

You are supposed to have a winter car, not winter rims.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

You are supposed to have a winter car, not winter rims.

Eh, it's fine. OEM alloys from the yard + winter rubber + 100lbs of quikcrete + RWD = fine winter driving
The chrome summer wheels stay locked up.

 

[halik]

You are supposed to have a winter car, not winter rims.

Pfffff

I've got 215mm blizzaks on the m3, winter is my bitch

 

[Vetterin]

If you check out a site like Tire Rack you will see that the wheels they offer for their winter package are the same wheels they offer for summer.
FWIW, I just got my winter tires mounted on new steelie wheels for my Cruze Eco yesterday with the slim hope that I will not need to put them on this winter.....yeah, right!

 

[Zap]

Pfffff

I've got 215mm blizzaks on the m3, winter is my bitch

:twisted:

Our two vehicles (my Mazdaspeed 6, my wife's WRX) are both AWD and both have snow tires on cheap alloys. IMO cheap alloys = winter wheels. I have some good curb rash on one of mine from hitting a curb I didn't see that was completely under 1' of snow. Not too painful, since they were around $100 per wheel. Steelies from Tire Rack were around $50 for the old Mazda 3s we used to have.

 

[IcePickFreak]

I think "winter" alloys simply means "cheap" alloys. Most people don't want to spend too much on winter rims, hence why the steelies are often used (as well as them being really durable.)

I run some ASA 18" alloys for my winter setup since no steelies are available (need a big offset.) They were pretty cheap, actually look pretty decent, and have held up fine through two winter so far.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Automatic car wash? Or with the (god forbid) squeegee at the pump?

Automatic touchless. One can't really afford to be a car-wash snob living in the upper Midwest - you either use an automatic wash or watch your car rust into a scrap pile. I use the $6-8 auto wash with every fill-up.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I've got a set of OEM 17s for my m3 and there is a decent amount of clearcoat peeling etc. on them. I don't think steel wheels would clear the brakes.

Yeah, that's the thing. I have 13+" rear brakes on my 330i - I couldn't easily find any steelies that would clear them.

 

[Chuvalo]

Automatic touchless. One can't really afford to be a car-wash snob living in the upper Midwest - you either use an automatic wash or watch your car rust into a scrap pile. I use the $6-8 auto wash with every fill-up.

Once the snow flies up here, I usually get a 3 month wash card ( max 1 wash per day ) from my gas station for $189 of either ' touch-less ' or ' brushed ' washes.

 

[ElFenix]

steel is an alloy :sneaky:

 

[iamwiz82]

I realized today that my summer tires are becoming slicks now with the cold weather, sigh. . time for winters.

 

[Howard]

steel is an alloy :sneaky:

It's on the periodic table.

 

[Sukhoi]

It's on the periodic table.

?? Are you serious?

 

[Zap]

Automatic touchless. One can't really afford to be a car-wash snob living in the upper Midwest - you either use an automatic wash or watch your car rust into a scrap pile. I use the $6-8 auto wash with every fill-up.

Yup. Always use an automatic touchless carwash with undercarriage spray.

 

[Mike Gayner]

It's on the periodic table.

Uh, what?

 

[Howard]

Uh, what?

You heard me.

 

[Throckmorton]