[Airborne2000]

I currently have Anthracite wheels on my car; I am looking to get something a little bolder. I have seen many different types of wheel finishes on the market.



Chrome, Anthracite, Polished Aluminum, and Hypercoated.

I’m probably missing some.



So what is the difference in all of these?

I’m guessing the Polished Aluminum is an all alum built wheel, and highly polished to give it a shine but less dull then Chrome.

Does chrome start as an alloy and covered in chrome then clear coated?



I have been wondering this stuff for a while because I had a truck that had chrome wheels (cheap, American racing or summit brand) and would always have rust on them if scratched and really bad by the lugs, now on my next truck I bought polished alum, and no rust but not as brilliant shine. I really do not want to deal with rust on the wheels but want a chrome shine.


If some has some good insite or links on this info please share.

[Aquacop]

Chrome is the easiest to clean & the most brilliant shine. I like the look of the polished wheels myself, & a lot of the polished are clear coated to make maintenance a bit easier. Steel & aluminum wheels can have a chrome coating put on them & the quality of the wheel is often directly related to the $$$. Aluminum is lighter than steel, so you have a little performance gain there. The anthracite, hypercoated, etc. are painted on finishes to give the wheel a different color. There are the new black chrome wheels, I'm not sure what process they use to darken the chrome but IMO I think they look like chrome wheels with too much brake dust on them.

Not sure if that helps or not.

[Airborne2000]

so is anthracite a painted steel wheel? or alum? I think Im going to end up getting some chrome wheels.

[Aquacop]

It can be steel or aluminum. You can't go wrong with chrome, especially if you're going with a good quality wheel.

[jorgeez]

Chrome is good indeed and it looks awesome too. You can't go wrong with it.

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