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.

Not significantly enough by themselves to notice a difference. Spend the same $1500 on a Civic VX or CRX HF and hypermile that thing instead of dailying the BRZ if you really want great mileage ;)

I'm probably going to put Michelin Primacy A/S on them for year round use, and comfort which I've put on other cars and enjoyed.

You'd yield a higher weight loss by getting a AAA membership and removing the spare and tools in the trunk. That's almost 30 lbs off the rear:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7881

As well as owners manual and trunk liner :lol: you'd lose almost 36 lbs total.

Dropped off 6 lbs per corner from new wheels and tires. Didn't notice MPG going up at all.

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As previously stated, width and tire compound have more to do with fuel economy than anything. Also how inflated the tire is. Your weight will have some effect but it is much smaller and is usually offset and then some by the much larger effects of width or tire compound.

No measurable difference but you will have an automatic 2-3mpg loss if you dont keep the stock tires lol.

Not about mpg, but interesting youtube video:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgMXNvu0eWI&t=240s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgMXNvu0eWI&t=240s[/ame]

Yea the editor of WR magazine and the one that does the binaural audio videos is really cool and into STX. Knows his stuff about making a decent handling car and is well versed and drives alot of cars every year.

I'd stick to a 215-45- 17 tire /wheel. The Michelins that come stock are solid for MPG. Find a nice forged 17" wheel (not too wide , I'm talking 17x7 or 17x7.5). Volk CE-28 comes to mind, they are about 13 lbs per wheel, 10-spoke design.

**Also no one had mentioned yet, but get some BRZ under panels for the aero gain, that will improve MPG... by how much, I'm not sure exactly.

I'm getting about ~29mpg with about 50/50 hwy/city driving. Stock wheels, tires were never stock, as I purchased the car with about 35K miles on it. Tires are currently some econo Nittos in stock size. Am thinking of 17x8 RFP1s with 215/40x17 Premier A/S or Conti DWS to just leave on year round. Just daily driving with ability to put big brakes on if I feel the urge in a year or two.