Car Wheels

Slow down!

Alloy wheels are probably a little stronger, depending on their quality.

He would want forged alloy wheels if you want the strongest wheel.

Not going to be cheap.

Also consider avoiding the ditches where possible, or perhaps changing to a vehicle with wider tires and better suspension to handle the physical abuse you are placing on the poor vehicle.

Alloy wheels are generally more expensive (not sure about the Indian market thou), so what you will very likely get is quickly damaged expensive wheels rather than quickly damaged cheaper wheels.

I was not aware this was a large problem in India, perhaps it is just your driving style. Drive to the conditions, not the speed limit!

You need more than wheels......

You need a pre-runner....

http://www.race-dezert.com/classifieds/index.php?ct=prerun

I'll second that. Higher profile tires will give the most 'cushion' for your rims.

My experience is that alloy rims are more brittle than steel rims. They're more likely to crack and break catastrophically vs bend.

Note that alloy rims are more often used with low profile tires.

can you increase your rim and tire size? years ago Honda CRs marketed their dirt bikes with larger front wheels to assist handling. basically a smaller diameter wheel will "fall" into a rut where as larger wheel will ride over. its slight I know but if you're a racer you look at every edge no matter how slight

Yes bigger wheels can handle ruts better but in the example you gave the large wheel improves the handling by having a larger diameter gyroscope that the back of the bike can basically hang off and push it along.

If a track is really rutted then suspension travel and good damping are really your friends.

Speed would appear to be the problem, as wheels don't get damaged by driving at zero speed. Never mind the wheels - what about the poor passengers!

"Speed would appear to be the problem, as wheels don't get damaged by driving at zero speed."

Obviously, you have never seen how they drive in India!

The difference between city driving and bumper cars is indistinguishable.

The Santro is a small car so there may not be many wheel options. High profile tyres, as has been suggested, give the best protection. Other than that, steel wheels can often be fixed with a large hammer wheras damaged alloys are mostly scrap.

The roads in India are also part of the issue!

They have sealed roads, but often they are not maintained very well. So you can be whistling along on a reasonable sealed road, whan you are suddenly confronted with a pothole which could rival the Grand Canyon as a tourist drawcard.

So you can't really drive slow enough ALL the time just on spec that you may encounter a pothole, but there will be one somewhere, and they'ere usually severe.

Also I agree that alloy wheels are generally more brittle, in that a large impact is more likely to break it, whereas a steel rim will usually bend rather than break, & it can be beaten back into shape some of the time.

Dear Mr. seshu0971,

Yes. Certainly the Alloy wheels are more stronger than the conventional wheels, in terms of resistance for impact, deformation, strength etc.

You can read the link below and you can learn a lot.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-alloy-wheel-section/54571-tire-pressure-conversion-calculator.html

Team-BHP's Tyre and Alloy Wheel Section

Car & Tyre Bible

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

You can get registered after opening the above link for receiving regular mails like cr4 and you can learn/share your experience.

The first one is the main link. The others are sub-links.

DHAYANANDHAN.S

I'm not so sure that you should claim certainty about the idea that alloy wheels are necessarily stronger than steel wheels. I didn't find anything conclusive in the links provided in the comment nor the follow up comment you made.

Dear Mr. seshu0971,

I forgot to add the following details in my posting No.13 above, which is response to your posting.

http://www.alloywheelsindia.com/alloy-wheels-guide.php

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/md-jsl.MD-JSL/My%20Documents/DOWN%20LOAD%205/alloy-wheels-guide.php.htm

• What is an alloy wheel?
• What are the advantages of alloy wheels?
• What does Offset mean ?
• What does PCD mean?
• Are special tyres required for installing alloy wheels?
• Are tubeless tyres required for alloy wheels?
• Is balancing and alignment necessary while installing alloy wheels?
• Do you get common alloy wheels, which fit on all the cars?
• What does Plus-Sizing or Up-Stepping mean?
• What are alloy wheels locking nuts and locking bolts?
• Care and maintenance of alloy wheels

I am sure it is of help to you.

DHAYANANDHAN.S

I will not drive "Santro" for upcountry roads. This is small car meant for city driving not for village roads. If you change wheels, latter on you may have some other problems such as shock absorbers etc. You may say even city roads also have pot holes then you have to control your speed while driving, as you are driving in Indian city not in Europe.

There is nothing better than a Rolls for a bumpy road!

Look to a company in India that is involved with rally racing. In that form of racing the cars are driven on whatever road conditions the course is set up on. Whatever wheels they use should be better than what you have now. What are used on the taxies in your area?