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Old 04-30-2003, 12:57 PM   #1
Irishman
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Default effects of lighter wheels?

I tried to look for wheel weight in the search page but it wouldn't work. So I am trying to find out how much of a difference lighter wheels make and if it is worth damage due to being light. I am looking for a rim that is in the 230 and under ballpark any suggestions?
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Old 04-30-2003, 04:40 PM   #2
mch
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define "light", the diameter you are thinking about and your intended use.

It will help narrow things down a bit.
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Old 04-30-2003, 05:30 PM   #3
maciek
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The advantages of a lighter wheel are:

1. better handling
2. increased acceleration
3. increased stopping power


but, the wheel has to be considerably lighter to feel the above.



maciek
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Old 04-30-2003, 05:56 PM   #4
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I remember reading somewhere that if you get 5lbs of unsprung weight off of each corner, it is like getting 1-2 HP gain.

But that is about as reliable as snow in summer.
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Old 04-30-2003, 06:42 PM   #5
DoinkMobb
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Quote:
Originally posted by maciek
The advantages of a lighter wheel are:

1. better handling
2. increased acceleration
3. increased stopping power


but, the wheel has to be considerably lighter to feel the above.



maciek
What's "considerably" lighter?
5 lbs lighter?
10 lbs lighter?
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Old 04-30-2003, 09:42 PM   #6
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Grassroots motorsports did a wheels weight comparison test in their 6/2003 issue (should be on shelves now). They used a Mazad Miata and g-Force T/A KDs for their test. They only compared simlar size wheels...did not plus size. Here are the results:

Kosei K1 Racing 15x7 wheels - 13.5 lbs.
Lap Time (AutoX Course): 39.245 seconds.

MSW Type 33 15x7 wheels - 22 lbs.
Lap Time (AutoX Course): 39.428 seconds.

They mentioned that road racing will result in even larger loses in times.

Grassroots Motorsports also has an article on their website that compares plus sizing. Good info...http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com/plustest.html
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Old 04-30-2003, 10:47 PM   #7
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Interesting read. Thanks.

They do not give overall tire/wheel weights for each set up. I'd like to see that bit of info.

The Auto-x times were from a running start. hummm
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Old 05-01-2003, 02:41 AM   #8
kenchan
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if you're just streeting around, weight doesnt matter too much...take it from me, im using several differnt wheels on my
different cars and the difference is so slim that its not even worth measuring on the streets. now for race applications the difference will probably be pretty large.

my actual experience:
1. mille HT3 17x7 (22.3lbs) vs SSR Comps 17x7.5 (12.5lbs)
tires used sumi HTR+ vs S03 both 225/45/17.

only minimal change during initial acceleration and initial
braking. otherwise, i couldnt tell.


2. different car:
factory 21lbs wheel vs SSR IntegralA2 17x7 (17lbs)

no difference at all that i could tell... but much better looks.


3. different car:
factory 16lbs wheel vs junk GT-N replica 20lbs

no difference at all that i could tell...but much better looks.


i drive my car intensely (like back to back wheel changes, etc)
but i seriously couldnt tell the difference on the streets...

conclusion: for street, get the wheel that satisfies the cosmetics of the car.
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Old 05-01-2003, 03:43 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally posted by kenchan
my actual experience:
1. mille HT3 17x7 (22.3lbs) vs SSR Comps 17x7.5 (12.5lbs)
tires used sumi HTR+ vs S03 both 225/45/17.
not to get too far off topic but how was your experience with the HTR+? Why the switch?
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Old 05-01-2003, 11:46 AM   #10
kenchan
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i liked the HTR+ a lot. i would say it is the benchmark for all season tires.

good looks, comfy, and can do cross tire rotations, inexpensive,
durable, etc.

i switched to S03's because i wanted to get a quicker steering response and inorder to do that, i wanted a tire with stiff sidewalls...and i changed steering wheel to a smaller diameter too at the end. it now corners like a honda.
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Old 05-02-2003, 09:05 AM   #11
Jack
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A guy on the Audi forum did a really in depth study of this and concluded that for Audi sizes (similar to WRX), that the effect of rotating weight on the car was 165% of that of body weight. So if you reduce rotating weight by 10#, it's like reducing body weight by 16.5#.

I still say that best bang for the buck is 16" RS wheels. Cheap, strong and pretty light.

jack
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Old 05-02-2003, 10:46 AM   #12
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The latest issue of Grassroots Motorsports (Junk Yard Cars) has another article about how the weight of your wheels can affect your car's performance.

The crux of the article showed that by keeping the car's total weight the same and simply reducing the weight of each rim by 10#, a 2000# (mystery) car managed to cut it's 1/4 mile time by 0.1 seconds.

The article also showed that in order to get the similar 1/4 mile time using the heavier wheels, you'd have to reduce your car's overall weight by around 60 pounds.
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