[Aditya]

While alloy wheels are pretty much the standard today, there are some cars that carry off steel wheels really well. They might be cheap & relegated just to economical base variants today, yet steelies do suit some cars:

Mahindra MM550 military spec
The civilian MM550 had sad utilitarian steel wheels, but the military spec Jeeps had some of the most appealing steel wheels I've ever seen!!! No alloy wheels can match the rugged appeal of these steelies.





Volkswagen Beetle
Anything else would just not go with the car.


Image Source


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Tata Hexa
While alloy wheels do suit the Hexa, the MPV manages to carry off steel wheels remarkably well. This might be partly due to the stylish design of the wheel.




Image Source

Land Rover Defender
The icon that actually got me thinking about this topic in the first place. The rugged appeal of the Defender is only enhanced by regular steel wheels. In fact, the older generations looked best with steel wheels & NOT alloys. The latest Defenders wear alloy wheels, but steels wheels are also available. Not only Defender purists like me, even newer Defender fans have found the steelies desirable.





Premier Padmini
This car actually looked great with steel wheels. Alloys were hardly available back then, but the Padmini's steel wheel design truly suited the car. I've seen some Padminis with alloys and just didn't find them appealing enough.



Maruti Gypsy
The stock wheels of the Maruti Gypsy look pretty good. However, these aftermarket steelies look killer! Too damn smart. With these wheels, the Gypsy looks as good as - if not better than - one with the most attractive alloys.





Vintage and Classic cars
IMHO, vintage and classic cars look their best with steel wheels only.





Offroaders
This Toyota Land Cruiser J80 looks absolutely irresistible. Steelies suit the tough & utilitarian nature of 4x4s.


Tight on cash? No worries, just paint your steelies black & your ride will look H-O-T







Then there are structured wheels which are steel wheels resembling alloys. Here is the Chevrolet Beat's smartly designed rim:






Tata's innovative Duralloy wheels are actually steelies with plastic wheel caps. The wheel-wheel cap combo is such that it looks almost like a proper alloy wheel to an average Joe.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line.

[AkMar]

I feel this steel wheel of Maruti 800 looks very good

[arun1100]

I absolutely love the steel wheels especially on older cars. Here are two of my cars which I feel look cool!!

[Shreyans_Jain]

I believe it’s only cars of a bygone era that can actually carry steel wheels. Don’t think they have any place in the modern automotive scenario. They most certainly work on military vehicles though

Look at this picture of a decommissioned army RCL



Or these on an army Stallion



Or how about these tanks.... This should also qualify as a ‘steelie’

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Land Rover Defender
The icon that actually got me thinking about this topic in the first place. The rugged appeal of the Defender is only enhanced by regular steel wheels.

When I read the header of this thread, it's the very same vehicle that had come to my mind too.

Just attaching an image of my humble beater car with the steelies on.

[saket77]

The old jelly bean Zen & Esteem came 'heart shape-cut' steel wheels which looked very good. Check them out:






Apart from that, I really loved the steel wheel of Fiat 1100D/ Premier Padmini. Nothing suits the car better.
Some new Hyundais and probably some more makers are coming up with steel wheels which look exactly like alloys and can be difficult to tell at a glance.

[SideView]

Nissan Magnite XL variant, i am liking the steel wheel +. Wheel cap combo.(since dura alloy was mentioned)

[kamilharis]

My post is not about the usual steel wheels but something like TATA's DurAlloy.

Renault has a "16" flex wheels with Complea hubcaps" which looks strikingly similar to an Alloy wheel. The steel wheels are hidden nicely behind this excellent quality hubcaps. Yes I repeat this is not an Alloy what you are seeing in below picture, it's the base variant of Renault Megane with hubcaps! I wish if our manufacturers comes up with something like this for the base variants.

[KkVaidya]

I agree.
Sometimes the simple steel wheel is the only design that suits. I have changed to alloys and then got back to steel and lost money in the process.
But one very important factor to make steel wheels look impressive is to keep it 'CLEAN'.

[Sanidhya mukund]

There are some cars that just wouldn’t look as good if it weren’t for steel wheels:

1. Ambassador:



2. Tata Safari:



3. W123 Benz:



4. 1950s American cars, especially the 1959 Chevy Impala:




5. The original wheels of the Gypsy:



6. The Opel Astra that was sold in India:



7. The original Indica:



Images taken from Google images.

[ash22]

Steel wheels do look good if propositioned well and IMO it suits well for hatchbacks and SUVs only. Few sample pictures below on how simple steel wheel enhance the looks of ordinary cars.

[hemanth.anand]

IMO only classic cars look good in steel wheels. I feel its mainly because we have grown up seeing them like that.
MM540 or Gypsy or Safari all look good for the same reason.
Maybe that's also a reason why I don't like the Hexa, Alto, Zen or Indica with those steel wheels.

The Tiago or the Beat looks good because they are designed to mimic the looks of the alloy wheels in a higher variant.

[chinmaypillay]

The Marutis and classic steel wheels are always a beauty, especially the HM Ambassdor and Mercs. Army vehicles are by default the best ones with the wicked Green shade.

The recent Defender is drool worthy, glad that I am not the only one who still loves steel wheels

Paint the steel wheels in either gloss black or white, the entire profile just changes and is a cost-effective mod for those living in places where there are no concepts of roads. Opting for alloys would be painful in such places.

[AMG Power]

Some early cars had steel wheels that suited them well: