Wheels That Define Volvo?s Character

Many Volvo users and owners around the world view Volvo cars as Swedish life vests or as personal Swedish armored cars. This is not surprising since Volvo’s safety-enhancement efforts have, time and again, been rewarded with several international awards, such as the “Prince Michael Road Safety Award” and the “Autocar & Motor” prize for the best safety features. Volvo cars not only excel in safety but also in style, as well. But Volvo car owners, naturally, want improvement. One such Volvo part that can be further be improved to enhance style is the Volvo wheel.

Volvo car wheels come in simple 14- to 17-inch rims, the original wheel sizes for cars. Volvo wheels basically fall into two basic categories namely the stamped sheet metal and machine casting. Cast alloy wheels like aluminum wheels are lighter, more rigid, and are more expensive than the stamped sheet metal wheels. When it comes to handling abilities, alloy wheels are better because they reduce amount of the auto’s unsprung weight. Lighter wheels are easier to control, enable improved riding and handling, and are smoother to accelerate and decelerate. Wheels also dissipate heat better, allowing them to handle higher tire and brake temperatures. Steel wheels, however, are most widely-used because they are more adequate for different functions. Steel disc wheels are inexpensive, durable, heavy, and flexible. Steel disc wheels were a vast improvement over the wire wheels that preceded them.

Nowadays, more people opt for custom wheels to enhance the appearance of their vehicles. Custom wheels are round metal wheels used for restyling a car’s appearance with different styles and variety of sizes to choose from. Custom wheels are usually made from different wheel materials. Mag wheels were the old fashioned custom wheels. Mag wheels first came into use in the 1950’s, as European sports car builders began applying aircraft technology to the race track. “Mag” is short for magnesium. Today, custom wheels are made from alloy, aluminum or other steel cast materials, with the goals of maintaining close contact with road and sprucing up the looks of a vehicle such as Volvo.

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