What's the diff? chrome vs. polished aluminum

[blackfire93]

I'm looking at buying some 17" OE ZO6 replicas off of ebay. I'm pretty sure that i want to go with the shiny wheel on the black car. I noticed that the polished aluminum is around $490 while the chrome is at $620. What is the difference in the two? Does the chrome last longer than the polished aluminum or are you just paying that extra $130 so that you can say, "Yea they're chrome! "

[fastTa]

I'm looking at buying some 17" OE ZO6 replicas off of ebay. I'm pretty sure that i want to go with the shiny wheel on the black car. I noticed that the polished aluminum is around $490 while the chrome is at $620. What is the difference in the two? Does the chrome last longer than the polished aluminum or are you just paying that extra $130 so that you can say, "Yea they're chrome! "

Chrome wheels are usually a steel or alloy that have been chrome plated with a 3-4 step electrolysis process involving alkaline copper, zinc, nickel, and then finally the chrome. Chrome has a much more reflective and hard "shine" to it than polished aluminum does. Chrome is also easier to maintain than poilished aluminum. Soap and water on a regular basis will keep the chrome shined and in good condition with only an occasional chrome polish needed to be applied.

Polished aluminum on the other hand needs to be polished with a metal polish pretty regularly but it is worth it. I do mine about once a month.

As far as wheels are concerned, I prefer the look of polished aluminum over chrome. To me it just looks better. Looks more business than chrome.

[wolfdogs]

Chrome wheels are usually a steel or alloy that have been chrome plated with a 3-4 step electrolysis process involving alkaline copper, zinc, nickel, and then finally the chrome. Chrome has a much more reflective and hard "shine" to it than polished aluminum does. Chrome is also easier to maintain than poilished aluminum. Soap and water on a regular basis will keep the chrome shined and in good condition with only an occasional chrome polish needed to be applied.

Polished aluminum on the other hand needs to be polished with a metal polish pretty regularly but it is worth it. I do mine about once a month.

As far as wheels are concerned, I prefer the look of polished aluminum over chrome. To me it just looks better. Looks more business than chrome.

im with him on this too.

plus...you get a chip in chrome.. and it starts rusting from the "inside" out..pretty soon.........you got flaky wheels.......

[Injuneer]

Its possible to clearcoat polished aluminum, to eliminate the maintenance issues. My AFS ZR1 replicas came with clearcoat, and require no more than a coat of Zaino every once in a while to help them shed brake dust.

I also have the uncoated polished Weld Pro-Stars, and because of limited use, they need one "good" polish a season, and a touchup for any "show" events. Would definitely take more frequent polishing in a daily driver.

After living in CA, where every car seems to have oversize chrome plated (and sometimes gold plated) wheels, I prefer the slightly softer look of the polished aluminum.

[lt1maro]

sorry to hijack your post dude, but Fred i love your car

[Christopherrr]

Chrome is cool...if it's stay clean it looks awesome and attracts a lot of attention. I loved the way my chrome 16" TA rim reflect the sun and literally bling when it spinned...

But my vote goes for polished Aluminum...not as clean a little harder to maintain...but looks much more serious and meaner...and expensive (to me at least).

My Speedlines with the clear coat looks amazing with a shot of Z5 and Z6.

But if you can get your hands on gloss black with silver/polished/chrome lip...that takes the cake, hands down.

[ryan34]

Aren't the aluminum wheels lighter in weight as well?

[DeWynter]

I have 18 aluminum wheels with crome coating same weight as a strait aluminum wheel. Only difference is the shine. one draw back of chrome is the chiping but if your in town or on the highway this is probably not a real problem. Aluminum is much harder to keep clean. One thing I would suggest is to stay away from wheel designs that are very sharp and angular as they are much harder to polish/clean than a nice set of smoth flowing rims. This is experience talking as I hated polishing my Eagle alloy 202s but my BossMotorsort 304s are a breaze.

[hotwhip9]

Chrome, easy to keep clean and it looks good!

[Injuneer]

sorry to hijack your post dude, but Fred i love your car

Thanks!

Aren't the aluminum wheels lighter in weight as well?

Just about every wheel you would consider putting on your car is some form of aluminum alloy. The weight is lighter, relative to steel, but no one would put a stamped steel wheel on an F-Body (except for the ones that came stock on the V6 Camaros). The only difference in weight between a polished wheel and a "chrome" wheel is the weight of the microspcopic layers of copper and chrome that Kevin describes in his response. I doubt you could measure the difference between two identical wheels, one polished and one chromed, with anything less than a laboratory grade scale. The C5 had a true "mag" wheel available, made from very light weight (and highly flammable) magnesium alloy. They were offered as a $3,000 option on the domestic C5, and "standard" on the export C5's.

My first "alloy" wheels were a set of 15X8" Cragar S/S wheels that I put on my then-new 1966 GTO..... The wheels were actually a polished aluminum center section, with a chromed stamped steel rim. They were not clear coated, and had to be removed at the first sign of snow, because the salt used on icy roads would coat the wheels with a furry white powdery corrosion, with black stains beneath the corrosion. Simichrome polish was about the only available remedy.