Lighter Weight Wheels --- Worth It?

[Formula413]

Originally Posted by BlackDeuceCoupe

Truth!!! THANK YOU! LoL!

Would you please explain this to that 'domestic guy' that keeps trying to bench-race me on this site?!?!?

Would that be me?

Interestingly enough, I just upsized the wheels on my Formula from 16" to 17". I weighed a stock 16" alloy with tire and it was 46 lbs. I weighed a 17" (similar 5 spoke alloy design) and it was 42 lbs. I found a source online that states that the 16's weigh 19.5 lbs, the 17's 20.5. That would make the tires 5 lbs (!) lighter. For what it's worth.

BDC, less talk more timeslip! And btw, you will not be getting a jump on me from a dig, I'm running drag radials.

[BlackDeuceCoupe]

LoL! You cad...

Hey, can you see the snappy in my post above???

Sometimes I see my pics here... sometimes I don't.

I don't have this problem on other sites, or in other forums on this site...

Weird!

BTW, if can see them, those Si wheels are 32 lbs mounted - I weighed them!

[Formula413]

Your pic doesn't show up, but I can right click and pick "open in new window" and see it.

[taco]

m sisters stock 16 inch rims ( for sale) and tires came out to 31lbs ( 30.x) that is a a 2002 mazda protege 5.

a d she swapped them for some 17x7.5 and they weight 38 lbs with tires, and i can feel a tiny bot of difference. but they are wider.


now on my old 97 lexus es300 i took the stock 15;s off and tossed some is300 5 spoke 17's on it and u could tell a big difference, lost about 2-3 mpg right there. dont know weights though

[basslover911]

This is what I was saying by placing a dust shield sort of thing behind the spokes, maybe it will simulate a moon cap by not letting air being pumped in and out of the rim... thoughts?

Aerodynamic optimized rims

[Bicycle Bob]

There are a lot of wheels that would probably benefit from easy installation of a thin metal shield on the back as well as moon covers on the outside. Brake cooling will be reduced a few percent.

[basslover911]

Scratch moon caps, how about just in the inside like that concept model in the website?

[Christ]

I dropped from 13" steel to 13" magnesium alloy ('85 CR-X Si wheels, specifically) which I'm pretty sure weigh less than 10 lbs each. (sans tires)

The end result was negligible increase in gas mileage (2 mpg) and significant increase in both acceleration and deceleration, including a much touchier response to the accelerator... it made me aware of exactly how much power I was wasting to propel those 14 lb steel wheels, vs. the sub-10 lb mags.

If that helps.

[Christ]

PS drive wheels are obviously more important than non-drive wheels... as far as wasting engine power and for acceleration... when it comes to braking, all four are equally important.

[some_other_dave]

Part of the benefit of the "pizza pan" wheel covers is that they are smooth on the outside, where air is flowing the fastest around them. Part of it is that it doesn't let air go through the wheel, but I think that's a much smaller part.

You would probably see very little if any MPG benefit from running the shield inside the wheel. You'd see a bit more with smooth covers on the outside.

You will see larger gains on the freeway from smoother aero than lighter weight, but in stop-and-start driving (e.g., in town or heavy traffic) and at low speeds the weight will be more important than the aero.

So, if you're doing it for looks: Get wheels you like. Put the dust shields on the back of them. Set the tire pressures as high as you are comfortable with, and go.

-soD