winter rims: steel vs alloy?

I've had alloys for winter tires on my last several cars with no problems.
I'm near Albany, NY. So, plenty of salt. But not as much snow as say, Oswego where I lived, or say, Buffalo.
Does Toronto get a lot of lake effect?
Of course, you're shopping for used alloys, and they could be rough.
But, you could find someone like me who just wanted to unload some great wheels with studded Nokians's and new TPMS, who just bought a new car they won't fit on, lol.
The tire place I go to takes a wire brush on an air tool to remove oxidation so the seal is good.
They really do look a lot better than steelies.

 

I run OEM alloys in winter. I got very lucky and found a poster on here that was getting rid of their brand new 19" PHEV wheels complete with tires and TPMS sensors. (They bought OEM 17" wheels for the greater tire selection.) All I had to do was drive there to pick them up(1800mi/2900km round trip, but worth it). I like the look of the PHEV wheels better than the HEV, so I run the PHEV wheels in summer and my original HEV wheels in winter(which I have to switch tomorrow because it's supposed to snow here this weekend).

 

Alloy to alloy, yes. Alloy to steel, probably not compatable.

As for whether you should, totally up to you. They provide a (very)small mpg boost, but only at highway speeds. They also somewhat protect the hub from salt/snow exposure, so you might want to protect that a bit if you go without them. Either with a center cap or at least spray the hubs with a protectant like Fluid Film or similar.

 

I bought some cheap hubcaps once from a car parts place for steel rims.
It dressed them up a little.
They're not that expensive.