I'm considering buying a new 2009 accord coupe with the standard alloy wheels. Never having owned alloy wheels what are alloy wheels? Is it recommended to get wheel locks for these? Do these wheels usually get stolen without the wheel locks? I live near Houston, Texas.
They are made of a metal alloy rather than steel. Advantages include less unsprung weight which translates into slightly better mileage.
Do they need wheel locks? The professional thieves have the wherewithal to readily defeat the locks. They might slow down the teenage amateurs for a little while. I remember from when I lived in Houston that anything not nailed down and guarded with a shotgun was fair game, so wheel locks might help, but its more likely they would just take the whole car.
I'll bet the dealers automatically put them on all the cars on their lots & then try to sell them with the car at significantly above retail markup. All the dealers around Dallas do this. Since this is sorta sleazy, I always tell them I don't want the locks and won't pay for them. In every case (4 new cars so far) they just give them to me as part of the deal.
make that typically "aluminum alloy" - steel is a metal alloy.
indeed, but the mileage thing is somewhat debatable. steady cruising, the weight differential makes no difference, it's only on acceleration that reduced mass means anything.
the op is more likely to notice a difference in the way the car rides because of unsprung weight as you say, but again, there's a trade-off - steel wheels, while slightly heavier, are more springy, and thus, same tire, same vehicle, are a slightly softer ride. alloys, correspondingly, are stiffer and thus more "sporty".
indeed - so-called locks are useless and easily defeated with one of these:
Or simpler - when a friend was stranded on the freeway with a flat tire and no lug nut lock socket, I called my local Discount Tire. They told me the method they use in that situation: drive on a socket that is slightly smaller than the lock and remove the lock with a regular socket handle. None of the pieces are recognized as "burglar tools." It was about as quick as using the proper unlock socket except it destroyed the lock.
I agree - the usual locks are completely worthless.
If your roads are anything like those in Houston, you'll probably beat the rims to death anyway. If they have those low, low profile tires, it will ride like a truck, to boot.
"E. Meyer" wrote in news:C5BC40E4.23C8% snipped-for-privacy@msn.com:
Lower unspring weight is supposed to mean better ride and handling, not mileage.
Theoretically, a lighter wheel assembly means the suspension can more quickly and effectively control road wheel movements with less transfer of motion to the body.
However, I'm not sure the actual weight differential between steel and aluminum is enough to make a real difference, so I think the purpose of aluminum wheels is primarily cosmetic enhancement. Certainly the suspension is the same whether the wheels are steel or aluminum. The wheel/tire assembly weighs approximately 30-35 lbs.
In practice, locks do help slow thieves down a bit. Given a choice between locked and unlocked wheels, thieves will choose the unlocked wheels first.
All /retailers/ do this sort of thing, period. It's how they make money. But you're always free to refuse it.
yes, i really think - i've messed about with this stuff.
nor do expensive forged aluminum - it's only cheapo cast stuff that cracks. academic tho - still can't straighten them. but you can at least limp home.
in theory, lower weight takes less energy to spin up, thus lower weight wheels can be used for better economy. the vx and hx civics use the lightest weight alloy wheels of any stock civic wheels. real hard to detect in fuel consumption tho. makes more difference to performance when you're trying to shave pounds for the 1/4 mile.
not around these parts. wide availability of battery powered impact drivers have seen to that.
jim beam wrote in news:mSHll.225991$ snipped-for-privacy@fe05.news.easynews.com:
I'd think the added cost of aluminum wheels would far outweigh any savings in gas. But then again, if the car came with aluminum wheels as standard, you'd have no added costs...
Now that I find more realistic. Racers do have to be fanatical when looking for that extra thousandth of a second.
I even had one guy (a track racer) tell me he was convinced he gained a few milliseconds just from waxing his race car. His reasoning was that a waxed car presents a slicker surface to the air, thus reducing drag. No idea if he was right or not, but that's what he told me.
The relentless advance of technology renders my info out of date!
Locks add only at most a second or two to each wheel stolen, compared to the time it takes to get the wheel off the ground and supported by something to leave the car sitting on. If there are two thieves working on it, one on the lug nuts while the other is lifting the corner, it doesn't slow things down at all.
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