Yeah, you need different tightening torques for steel and alloys. It should be noted that different torques are needed between lubricated and dry also...a tougher call. Alloys can be tough to remove because of corrosion.
A tip I posted before I think...save the chrome tubes from any old vacuum cleaner that you are throwing out and put one in your trunk. They are light and fairly tough and will slip over the spokes of a star wrench, giving much more leverage for removal. Saved a situation for a guy on a works parking lot one cold winter night using a vacuum tube.
I bought one of those extendable handle wrenches from CT and find them great also. It came in a nice plastic box with several sizes of socket. If you are towing a trailer, make sure that one of the sockets fits the wheel nuts on it.