Are you looking for a way to improve the look of your car? Do you want your car to turn heads as you pass by? The quickest way to make your car stand out from the crowd is to swap out the standard steel wheels and plastic trims for a set of alloy wheels. It need not cost you a fortune, these days there many outlets selling cheap alloys to improve the look of almost any make and model of car.
As well as making your car look good, most cheap alloys and low profile tyre sets will make your car handle better, especially on cornering and offer better fuel economy.
The only real downsides to swapping your factory fitted steels for a set of cheap alloys is that the ride is harder and slightly noisier and if a larger wheel size is used the road holding and fuel consumption gains are lost and the acceleration speed reduced.
The range of designs available even of cheap alloys is very wide, varying from simple and elegant 5, 7 or 8 spoke designs through to very complicated multi spoke patterns on more expensive sets.
Though advances have been made to the lifespan of cheap alloys, you should expect them to need regular inspections and possible maintenance after 3-5 years of life, as the alloys tend to suffer from some corrosion. This corrosion can cause slow air leaks in the tyres which can be dangerous, so check your tyres regularly.
Modern cheap alloys tend to be made from cast aluminum alloys, which has brought the prices down compared to the cost of using magnesium alloys. Magnesium is the traditional material used in the manufacture of alloy wheels and is still used by some manufacturers. The major drawback to magnesium wheels was that if they caught fire they were very difficult to extinguish. Modern magnesium alloy wheels have reduced this risk by using lower magnesium content, reducing the fire risk.
Cheap alloys have made it possible for everyone, even those on a tight budget to pimp their ride. If your pockets are deeper, then there are some very fancy rims available such as Spinners and Floaters. Spinners have a section of the wheel at the hub that continue to spin after the vehicle has stopped, while on floaters the centre of the wheel does not turn making the wheel appear to be stationary even when it is rotating.
For a wide range of cheap alloys visit one of the UK’s specialists in alloy wheels at Wheel Heaven. Wheel Heaven stock a wide range of alloy wheels at the showrooms in Hereford and are able to provide alloy wheels made by over 20 of the top alloy wheel manufacturers in the world. You can see their range at their website at
