Kerbing alloys. Why can't the problem be solved??
Discussion
Years ago with high profile tyres scratching/kerbing alloys was never a big issue. Touching a wheel on the kerb at very low speed parking manoeuvres normally involved nothing more than the tyre gently touching the kerb. Now, with any half decent car, there are large gashes in the soft alloy rims no matter how careful you are, no matter how gently a kerb is touched!. Its just a matter of time. Part and parcel of living in a busy city, parking on the street. Expensive to repair, only to do it again in the near future! Can it be so difficult for manufactures to design good looking sporty rims that aren't so susceptible to damage??? Or is it in the interests of manufacturers and dealers to keep it this way and earn extra on repairs and replacement rims?? Any ideas on solutions? or is it impossible??
swamp said:
I've kerbed the alloys of my Mk5 GTI. Every single Mk5 GTI I've seen in London has kerbed alloys, with the 18" Monzas faring the worst.
Fact is a lot of country folk who park on gravel drives and who never have to park within 2" to a kerb in a tight spot (lest their wing mirrors get bashed) love to pontificate on sites like this about how kerbing alloys is always bad driving...!
Black cabs have the right idea with their wheels.
+1! Fact is a lot of country folk who park on gravel drives and who never have to park within 2" to a kerb in a tight spot (lest their wing mirrors get bashed) love to pontificate on sites like this about how kerbing alloys is always bad driving...!
Black cabs have the right idea with their wheels.
I've been amazed actually by all the macho pontifications on this site about how wonderful you guys are at driving/parking. Living in Central London and having to fight for parking spaces, in narrow roads, will eventually result in a mis judgement every so often, we are not talking about every day or even every week. Perhaps once every 5-6 months. Coming out an unfamiliar NCP car park, parking where the kerb is at an angle/rounded..etc.. In a rush, late for a meeting etc, in the dark/rain, just plain tired after a tough day, a lorry coming at you in a narrow road, just about to hit you... its pretty easy to miss a piece of kerb sticking out because its been damaged, or simply sticking out a bit more than estimated. In the 25 years or so I have have been driving, I have never since a teenager scraped a car whilst parking, but in a big car, it can be pretty hard to sometimes see a kerb, or something unexpectantly sticking out. Are you all seriously telling me you have never been in a situation where you have made a minor error of judgement, or been forced to??? Going by what I see every day on almost without exception every car parked on the road in Central London, the reality of kerbed wheels differs considerably from what is being said on this site!!
I drive over 30 thousand miles a year with some pretty wide and/or long wheel base cars, Porsche 911/Merc S class. If you don't park as tight as you can on a narrow road, chances are you will loose a wing mirror, from a pyschotic cyclist or white van man. It happens, and with the best will in the world, mistakes/errors of judgements are made, unless you are telling me you are all robots. Are most people on this site seriously saying that in 2/3 or more years of driving in a busy city centre, none of you has ever kerbed a wheel? Its fact that some wheels are rather more prone to kerbing than others, with the alloy design protuding outwards ever so slightly.
By the way, thanks for insights into some of the products available.
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