leungwingkei

Hello Everyone,

I'm Kei and I have been visiting this forum daily even before i purchased a Protege 5 back in October 2001. This is my first time to have posted a thread after registering earlier this evening. My question concerns the standard "alloy wheels" of the Protege 5. I was wondering what type of alloy are they made of. I maintain my assumption they ae made from steel alloy as opposed to aluminum alloy due to the fact; 1) they are extremely heavy when i lifted them when changing to a snow tire setup. 2) Mazdausa.com indicates they are made of alloy (same with the Mazda Miata), while checking other cars such as Mazda Millenia and 626 the site indicates explictly they are made from aluminum alloy. Did Mazda use the term "alloy'' as a clever marketing ploy to make people believe they were aluminum alloy as the term alloy conjure images of aluminum construction? Or is it really a steel alloy wheel? Thank you to those who can solve this dilemma for me.

obender66

Protege 5 wheel and tire weight is 36 lb.
Dunlop SP 5000 weighs 20 lb, that would make wheel 16 lb.
This is not heavy! You gotta work out more!Just check weight of other popular 16" wheels-they will be up to 20lb each.
They made out of same material as Millenia wheels, which weigh same 16 lb(in 16" size)-aluminum alloy.
That's one of the reasons I am not rushing to get replacement wheels-I consider powdercoating stock wheels in some dark bronze or titanium colour instead.
Alex

Eric F

Steel is an alloy by itself. Alloy means a mixture of different metals. For example, steel is not an element, while aluminum is. The P5 wheels are indeed made of an aluminum based alloy. Sorry if this is to much info, I thought someone might be interested.

leungwingkei

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. For a moment I thought no one would reply to my thread. Yes, gotta work out more, im getting chubby. But what I still don't understand is why they specify the p5's wheel to be "alloy" while other Mazda's excluding the Miata, are made of "aluminum alloy".

Eric F

I don't think you can find very many magnesium alloy wheels any more. They were the original choice, hence the term 'Mag wheels', but magnesium is somewhat brittle compared to aluminum. It has more of a tendency to crack under stress, rather than bend like aluminum.

Sir Nuke

Kei, they are definately Aluminum alloy....as I got mine in the polished varity...you wouldn't find them polishing steel wheels. And yes...you can still get a true MAG wheel...if you chose....but they are certainly high end...and if for any reason...you EVER have a blow out on the highway...and you impart enough heat to the wheel....you better be ready for a new ride...for they will burn....and you will have a VERY hard time putting it out....when Mag burns, it creates its own oxygen.....throwing water on a buring piece of Mag is just like throwing gas on a fire. you have to smother it.....other than the fancy chemicals that are used at some airports.....sand will work....as the Mag fire will actually heat the silica in the sand to the point of melting and turning the sand into glass.....of course the prospect of that happening before your entire car burns to the ground is pretty slim.

leungwingkei

Thanks Guys for all your input.

njaremka

talk about semantics!

technically, steel is almost pure iron with trace amounts of carbond imbedded in the crystals to give it more strength. also, aluminum technically is an element. (check your periodic table) however, aluminum wheels are a mixture of aluminum with other elements in the proper amount to give the aluminum more strength. pure aluminum is way too soft to be used alone as a auto wheel, and is often mixed with silicone (another base element) and artificially age hardened to give more strength. this is how they get the different aluminum designations 4041, 6061, etc. followed by T0, T1, T6, etc to designate the type of hardening process used.

i may be wrong on some of this stuff, but i know i am close. i just haven't opened my materials handbook in a while. yeah, and i used to work in a metal processing / manufacturing facility, too.