have stock 2014 brz, will lighter wheels improve mpg?
 

I read stock 17" wheels are about 20lbs.

Kosei or others are 16lbs.

Will I get better mpg and handling converting to lighter wheels?

Absolutely, how much though depends.. may be miniscule or noticeable depending on which wheel. At least a 3-4 lb reduction per wheel would be on the higher scale and I would say minimum needed to get a noticeable difference for 17" wheel.

16's you can find 15-17 lbs fairly easy for a fair price. I bought a pair of 16x6.5 BBS's (from the old B spec legacy) 15lbs a wheel.

Tire weight plays a roll as well. With the 16" your tires will weigh more and bringing the
balance closer once again.

Yes but tire weight is more important since the weight on the outside is harder to move.


I went with 17" Konig hypergrams at 16.5lbs,
Hankook evo II's in stock size at 19lbs, stock tires are ~21lbs


Very noticeable off the line acceleration and it cruises much easier

Yes, but whatever you gain from lighter wheels, you will lose from not running low rolling resistance tires, which the stock tires are.

:iono:

who says he can't run lrr tires that are lighter? Heck he could even run the stock tires, because they really are not as bad as people on here make out.

All depends how much of a lead foot you have.
Also depends how long of a reset your in dash mpg calculator has been active.
Also depends how clean your mass air flow sensor/air filter is.
Also depends on driving conditions/up hills, down hills.

good point the stock tires are meant to be "green" from a prius. So keeping stock tires with light wheels would be best for economy. For performance and still good economy you can get lighter grippier tires (hankook evo II)

I installed RPF1s and went from 31 MPG to 25 MPG.

BUT they were 18" x 9.5", and I wrapped them in Pilot Super Sports. So the moral of the story is that the width and stickiness of the tires is going to have a lot more effect on fuel economy than the weight of the rims.

Technically yes, practically no. Definitely not any measurable amount. IF you are getting new wheels anyway, you might as well lean toward the lighter ones. They will help acceleration, braking, handling, ride, and efficiency to a very tiny degree.

Yes.

Depending on material and manufacturing.

May break a few on potholes or speed bumps.

How much $ you have to throw around?

Lighter Wheels
 

Stay with 17s, a bit wider if you like won't matter much, and maybe your mpg will improve! Who cares! (I see this your first post, please don't take this as being flamed.)
Any weight savings on a car will result in improved mileage, because math, but it won't be significant. The benefits when you save 6 lbs or so of unsprung weight per wheel is a noticeable (to me) improvement in sharper handling and spinning up the rear tires. It's a net gain in fun.
And don't worry about breaking most lighter wheels on potholes, you're usually paying more $$ for the lightness and manufacturing processes are superior. Enkei RPF1s, Kosei, 949 Racing, Apex, O.Z. etc. use low pressure casting and some version of flow forming and are very durable. You're much more likely to break a Chinese 25 lb. gravity cast POS wheel in daily use.

I lost 3lbs per wheel and have not seen any noticeable change in mpg.

Stop.
Just stop.