Upgrading to alloy wheels?

motorguy

w12ee3e said:

I might be clutching at straws here, but my slightly older car (2012) has all steel rims. Would upgrading to alloy rims offer much performance and economy benefit?

I'm trying to do all I can to improve efficiency. I had cruise control fitted for steady driving, had low rolling resistance tyres installed and stay on top of servicing.

As per all the other answers, no, there will be no notable performance benefit and no economy benefit.

Also as per the above, using cruise control wont get you the best MPG, but it will give you better MPG than "normal" non economical style driving.  You could practice driving more smoothly and you should be able to better the cruise controls mpg.  Has your car an instantaneous fuel reading on the trip computer?  Granted, its not totally accurate but it would give you an indicator of the impact of your right foot on MPG.

I've found the real savings over and above what you are doing are in driving less.  I appreciate if you need the car for commuting its less effective and it also depends on where you live relative to amenities, but if you're not doing it already it might be cheaper for example to

• get a grocery home delivery rather than go get them (we get a Tesco delivery for £2 a week, where it would cost us £6 in fuel to go to the supermarket)
• there may be things you can order online for the same cost or less as going to get them yourself from a shop
• When you are going out for an errand, roll in other things at the same time so its not a one purpose journey
• Use the likes of petrolprices.com to check for the cheapest petrol stations on your route when you need fuel
• Walk or cycle where viable rather than take the car.

motorguy

fatbelly said:

They do look better but a new set of wheel trims does much the same job for not much money.

The purpose in this case is to improve economy or performance, so he doesnt need a new set of wheel trims.

caprikid1

Out of interest what is the car and what are your typical miles / journeys ? Long term it might be more sensible to swap cars to something with an overall lower cost of ownership.