Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
Food for thought, I went to a local junkyard and picked up 2 nice sets of alloy rims. One set was ~$60, and the other was ~$100. There were tons of 15" and 16" alloys available, and the weight savings would be something like 5-7lbs per wheel in the same size. Considering how little more a set of junkyard alloys would cost, why not do that instead?
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OEM alloys on my Fiat are much heavier than steelies. With OEM tyres it's about 7lbs per corner. I think you'll find that's pretty typical. The fatigue properties of aluminium means OE wheels are much thicker so they end up weighing the same or more than steel.
Narrow steelies with smooth covers is the way to go, unless you can use some of the rare light weight OE wheels or don't mind spending on aftermarket forged.
Even then, the open faces of race type wheels may not pay dividends in economy terms.