Lightweight wheels
Introduction
Auto makers regularly raid the light rims bin when trying to improve a vehicle's fuel economy ratings. Lighter wheels mean less mass to accelerate, which means less energy used. Unit for unit, reducing rotational mass will show greater benefits than reducing static (non-rotating) mass.
This mod is more beneficial in sub/urban stop & go type driving than at constant speeds (highway driving).
Ecomodding Honda owners are particularly fond of the featherweight 13 inch rims originally spec'ed on the frugal Civic VX (pictured).
Contents
Instructions for mod
Swap wheels
User experiences
Please enter your user name and any relevant data in the table
User Name | Car Make, Model, Year | Cost of Mod | Time to Perform Mod | MPG Before Mod | MPG After Mod | MPG improvement guess | Instruction Link |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Example Data Saand | Example Data Mazda, 626, 1991 | Example Data $5 USD | Example Data 1 Hour | Example Data 27.2 | Example Data 29.8 | User mod detail or measurement detailed data |
Problems / Consequences of mod
If you go too light on the wheels you can knock them out of round when hitting particularly catastrophic pot holes.
Factory Hyundai alloy 17 inch wheels found on sonata from 2005 to 2010, 46mm off set, 5 on 4.5inch lug pattern wheels are known for doing this. If you live in a war zone or some where doing a lot of road construction you may want to hold off on going with lighter wheels.