Cars play a vital role in our daily lives, whether for commuting to work or school, or for self-driving trips. As the demand for cars continues to grow, major automotive brands keep refining vehicle configurations to better meet consumer needs. For example, car wheels come in types like steel wheels and aluminum alloy wheels, with variations in size too. So, when buying a car, should we choose larger wheels?

As a component that bears the rigid rotational inertia between the car and the tires, car wheels serve to support the tires and cushion external impacts. In the past, cars were not equipped with wheels, but now most cars have them installed. Moreover, when we visit 4S stores to look at cars, we will find that the wheel size of most family cars starts from 16 inches; larger options include 18/19 inches, and even 21 inches.

Some car owners prefer to choose 21-inch wheels when selecting car wheels, believing that the larger the wheel size, the better, while others opt for the smallest size available. So, is it really true that the larger the car wheels, the better?

Actually, it is not. Although larger wheels are more aesthetically pleasing than smaller ones, they also have many drawbacks. First, larger wheels are more prone to damage. This is because increasing the wheel size requires using tires with a lower aspect ratio, which means the tires will be thinner. Such tires are more likely to bulge or even burst when driving on rough roads, and the wheels themselves are also more susceptible to damage. This shows that larger wheel size is not necessarily better.

Besides being more easily damaged, larger wheels also reduce ride comfort. As the wheel size increases, the tires become thinner. When driving on bumpy roads, we will feel strong vibrations. Additionally, the tire noise will increase accordingly, which can also affect our driving mood.

Furthermore, larger wheels lead to higher fuel consumption. A larger wheel size means the tire width will increase correspondingly, which in turn adds to the tire weight, resulting in higher fuel consumption of the car. Moreover, replacing with larger wheels costs a lot—up to thousands of yuan. All these factors prove that the larger the car wheels, the better.

Having discussed the issue of car wheel size, let's move on to the material of car wheels. Currently, car wheels are made of several materials: aluminum alloy, steel, magnesium alloy, and carbon fiber composite. Among them, steel wheels are relatively common in daily life. Although the production cost of steel wheels is low, they are more prone to rust compared to wheels made of other materials. Magnesium alloy wheels, on the other hand, are lighter than those of other materials. Their heat dissipation and shock absorption performance are much better than those of other materials, but their price is relatively higher.