<< Was advised never to use the specialist alloy wheel cleaners since they are acidic and especially damaging if there are any stone chips on the finish. >>

Speaking as a chemist, aluminium is attacked more by alkali than by acid. Probably best to give the wheels minimal attention.

Hardly any experience of alloy wheels, and dont much want any more but on steel wheels, as on steel everything else, I use sunflower oil and abrade with aluminium.

Think this would probably work to prevent corrosion or hide existing corrosion on alloy wheels, but probably not the appearance desired.

It would have to be aluminium foil and used gently though. I used a beer can abrasive disk to get corrosion off the back of an alloy wheel on a Honda Accord and it scratched it quite badly. The alloy was a lot softer than I realised.

Given their general cosmetic and structural fragility, if they didn't exist it REALLY wouldn't seem necessary to invent them.

Has anyone noticed the lower unsprung mass enhancing their driving experience?

Totally pointless exercise and will almost certainly damage the finish. All alloy wheels are painted or a mixture of paint and lacquer so rubbing them with alloy foil will damage the factory finish. Then putting sunflower oil on which will attract brake dust and potentially damage the finish further is another pointless exercise.

I simply wash ours regularly with normal car shampoo and then give them a coat of wax in early autumn which makes cleaning easier during the winter. Was advised never to use the specialist alloy wheel cleaners since they are acidic and especially damaging if there are any stone chips on the finish.

Yup my regime exactly SK, if you do neglect your wheels to the point of getting baked on brake dust then 'magma' ( it's a AG product) will help, its pH neutral so won't effect any finish etc.

Hardly any experience of alloy wheels, and dont much want any more but on steel wheels, as on steel everything else, I use sunflower oil and abrade with aluminium.

Think this would probably work to prevent corrosion or hide existing corrosion on alloy wheels, but probably not the appearance desired.

It would have to be aluminium foil and used gently though. I used a beer can abrasive disk to get corrosion off the back of an alloy wheel on a Honda Accord and it scratched it quite badly. The alloy was a lot softer than I realised.

Given their general cosmetic and structural fragility, if they didn't exist it REALLY wouldn't seem necessary to invent them.

Has anyone noticed the lower unsprung mass enhancing their driving experience?

Totally pointless exercise and will almost certainly damage the finish. All alloy wheels are painted or a mixture of paint and lacquer so rubbing them with alloy foil will damage the factory finish. Then putting sunflower oil on which will attract brake dust and potentially damage the finish further is another pointless exercise.

I simply wash ours regularly with normal car shampoo and then give them a coat of wax in early autumn which makes cleaning easier during the winter. Was advised never to use the specialist alloy wheel cleaners since they are acidic and especially damaging if there are any stone chips on the finish.

Sure. I would only do it with knackered wheels, which is probably what I would have, plus I tend not to give a tinkers damn about "finish", anyway.

But luckily, (as I think I made quite clear), I've managed to avoid actually owning any alloy wheels.

They seem totally pointless.