![]() Maybe you’ve upgraded your engine for more power and now your tires break loose if you just look at them funny. ![]() One of the reasons why people opt for larger wheels and tires revolves around the contact patch-specifically, how much tire touches the ground at any given time. ![]() For now, most wheel upgrades involve aluminum alloys. Beyond these alloys, there are now ultra-lightweight carbon-fiber wheels, but those are still far more expensive than an alloy set. What some old-schoolers call "mag" wheels today are actually a safer, more stable magnesium alloy or more frequently, an aluminum alloy that’s been painted or chromed. These earlier magnesium wheels didn’t get much use outside of racing because of these on-road liabilities. Magnesium wheel fires are still singled out in firefighting courses today, as taking a water hose to a burning magnesium wheel only makes it burn more intensely. Unfortunately, pure magnesium corrodes very easily unless it's properly sealed and can even catch fire in an accident. Steel's weight penalty led racers and enthusiasts to explore magnesium-a metal as strong as aluminum, but even lighter. Lightweight steel-spoked wheels lingered until the 1950s, especially on nimble foreign sports cars, but larger American cars needed the stronger stamped and welded wheels. ![]() Increased power and weight soon outstripped wood's capabilities, and wheels were upgraded to steel, either in a stamped, welded dish or a lighter hub, spoke and rim design. Automobiles even used wooden carriage wheels for quite a while. The first known wheels were made of wood, despite what Fred Flintstone's granite-shod convertible would have you believe. Universal History Archive // Getty Images ![]()
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