Why the concern over Wheel Weight?

Why the concern over Wheel Weight?

I've seen alot of people on here, happy to be getting rims...and at least one person has to say..."Those are heavy!"

Who cares? It's not like 5-6 lbs per wheel is going to give you a hard time on the street. Light-weight wheels come into play in full drag racing...on the street, who cares if your wheels weigh 10 pounds or 40 pounds?

Hell the 15" black rock-crawler rims with a 35" tire full of air weighs nearly 100 pounds...

So why the complaining?

well i went from very heavy aftermarket 14' wheels to some lightweight race 15's and there was a noticable difference. And it wasnt in my head because i want really expecting any difference at all.

Could you clarify that for me? I assume you went from your stock steel 14" to an aluminum 15"?

it's not just the weight of the wheel itself, but the added weight that needs to me spin at the wheel. It takes more power to spin something that weights 35 lbs than it does to spin something that weights 25 lbs... its a big difference since that weight is "at the wheels". And you need to multiply that by 4.

Thats why they are "complaining".

I've always wondered why people said that...now I know...thanks.

well like it was said the bigger and heavier they are the more power it takes to spin them so therefore if you have bigger tires then you gas mileage sould be affected even slightly, but on my car the 195/50/15s are actually smaller then the origional 175/65/14's so bigger wheels doesnt always mean bigger tires.

i used to get a lil bit of tire spin when i floor it from a dead stop... now with my 17" which are pretty damn heavy, i dont get anymore wheel spin...

2 words: unsprung weight.

I have 14" Alloys in the summer with summer tires... and in the winter I have 14" steelies with winter tires (winters weigh about 12lbs more than the summer ones) and the first time I gunned it with my winters, it felt like the car just gained a few hundred pounds...acceleration just felt a little slower...

eh as long as I like the wheels I don't care what they weight other than the fact that for a nice lightweight set of wheels is like 2 grand so haha no, I'd rather get a set under or just over a grand and weight just a few lbs more

That is odd:
With my 17" Enkei's with Falken ZIEX 512's I get 30-35
With my 14" Stockers with Futura 775's I get 30-35

Maybe cause you are running your A/C

Yes but it also affects acceleration, braking, and steering due to inertia. The handling ability of a car improves by many folds just by decreasing unsprung weight by utalizing light weight forged wheels, aluminum body shock absorbers, invertered monotube suspension, aluminum hat brake rotors, forged aluminum brake calipers, etc.
ask any race car engineer and they'll tell you the same.

whats the rotational savings, for every seven lbs 1 hp is put to the ground? Something with 7lbs I remember it on a 3rdgen f-body site.

heh... thats prolly it... and wider tires... omg im not thinking today... i lost 3 times in chess today for crying out loud...

I've weighed both my stock 14 inch alloys against my 16 inchers and the 14s are about 5 lbs heavier on each corner with tires. My butt dyno tells me the 16s accel faster but i have no real data to back up that claim

keep in mind, guys, that the weight is sometimes concentrated in the middle of the wheel on higher performance wheels which is better than being distributed evenly though the wheel or even being heavier on the outside (eek!)

wheel weight can be saved by using lighter materials or using less materials. sometimes you will find some lightweight wheels that can be damaged very easily because they are weaker.

i firmly believe wheels and tires are one of the most important choices you can make in terms of performance and looks.

I have to run my A/C in the winter alot of the time here in FL

haha, true

Yeah it just totally sucks living right next to the beach with hot chicks in bikinis 9 months out of the year...
DAMNIT! lol

EXACTLY, you beat me to it... haha. Hot summers equals chicks in bikinis and very skimpy skirts. You can keep the snow and husky chicks, haha.

(High Five)