Wheel quality mark not yet in sight
Alloy wheels do a lot for the looks of your car. But in addition, together with four tires, they carry the entire vehicle weight and must be able to withstand the forces generated under all circumstances. Yet there is no quality mark for wheels. Pretty crazy, if you look at what the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) investigated and found.
No requirements, no control
Wheel importer Arthur Hofstede is sounding the alarm: “Everything on a car must be inspected, except the wheels. While they are so important for safety. The Netherlands has not established any approval requirements for wheels and it is not a checkpoint within the MOT. Astonishing!” If no requirements have been established, the ILT cannot enforce or limit the safety risk, the service concludes in the study.
Application
Arie Verhoef is a senior policy officer at VACO, the Dutch trade association for the tire and wheel industry. He points out another aspect: the use of wheels. After all, it’s not just about size. “The wheels of a Mercedes-Benz A-class also fit on a Mercedes-Benz Vito. But a Vito requires a much higher load capacity. A wheel from a BMW 3-series also fits on a Tesla Model 3, but it is much heavier and has much more torque. So that wheel is not suitable, even if it fits.”
In research
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is investigating, in consultation with VACO, the status of regulations in neighboring countries and what the Netherlands could do with them. In other words, it is a work in progress. Until then, the advice is: buy quality wheels from a specialist that are suitable for your specific vehicle, for example with UN type approval or German national approval. Very safe.
You must have this one
VACO monitors all trends and developments in the tire and wheel industry. What is popular? And what is on the decline? Black and polished wheels are in demand. Even last winter, with winter tires on it. Silver wheels are on their way out, but not as winter wheels. Closer specimens are also a trend. These have been transferred from electric cars, but are now very popular on ‘conventional’ models. Wheels with a deep center, also called ‘heart’, are also in vogue.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl