POLL: What the best type of metal for car parts?

POLL: What the best type of metal for car parts?


I'm tryin to pimp out my 2000 ford focus and I want to know what is the best metal for hubcaps, mufflers, ect.





Chrome





Alloy





Stainless Steel





Aluminum





Also what type of metal is the standard and comes with most cars?|||You should use different metals for different tasks.


Chrome is only suitable as a coating and parts are rarely made from chrome. It's a wonderful material to coat some types of parts as it can protect against corrosion and tends to look good.





Alloy is actually the generic term for any two or more metals combined together. Most metals used in car construction are alloys or at least not pure. Aluminium is rarely found as anything except an alloy.





Stainless steel, or as it is usually referred to in the industry, corrosion resistant steel, is very useful for parts which might otherwise corrode, but otherwise its properties aren't great. Other alloys tend to work better where corrosion is unlikely to be a problem.





Aluminium, or more precisely, aluminium alloys are fantastic for certain car parts. It tends to be fairly corrosion resilient while also being quite light, but it is expensive for structural items. It is perfect for use in lightweight wheels and engine parts.





Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (usually known as carbon fibre) is also very useful, though expensive.





For wheels, if you can't stretch to the cost of CFRP ones, magnesium alloy wheels can be exceptionally light (good for handling and ride).





For hubcaps, either aluminium, plastic or chrome plated is pretty essential to keep corrosion down. That said, hubcaps add weight and rarely do anything to the performance of the car.





For mufflers, chrome plating, or stainless steel is good as these are very prone to corrosion (high temperatures and lots of access to moisture). Aluminium doesn't work so well here are it tends to not handle the heat so well.