The wheels that come with your car from the factory are strong and properly built for pretty much everything you're going to do with your car. They're most likely aluminum, which means they're also lightweight. If you have a new car, you probably have good wheels. If you want to go rally racing though, you're going to need to swap them out for something more purpose-built.
Wyatt Knox from Team O'Neil Rally School is here with another lesson in all-things rally. We've learned about setting up a car, the importance of proper tires, and the virtues of left-foot and right-foot braking, among other things. Now we learn what wheels we should be using if we really want to go rallying.
A quick upgrade over your stock wheels are a cheap set of steel wheels. These are inexpensive and strong enough on a very basic level. Plus, if you hit something when sliding sideways, the wheel is going to bend. This sounds bad, but it saves the rest of your suspension and braking components because the steel wheel absorbs most of the impact. It's good for an amateur application, but not for top rally racers.
Real racers will step up to racing wheels. These will be far more stout and strong aluminum wheels designed with tall lips meant to hold the tire in place when you inevitably smack a stone, branch, or just slide sideways on the dirt. Ideally, the wheel will also have steel inserts in the lug holes for even more strength and protection.
If you're going to be pushing your car down a rally stage, you need to make sure you're on sure footing. A proper set of rally wheels is key.
Watch the video as Wyatt explains more in depth about each of the elements that makes a good rally wheel.
