Quote:
Originally Posted by churchx
Lynxis: point is to not go overboard with lightening wheels. In that experiment imho Enkei overdid cutting material out for lightening from regular wheel and maybe even at wrong places/amount, and wheel rigidity got below acceptable, it got too weak. Not sure if results of this experiment can be attributed to lighter wheel that is designed from ground up such and tested/certified for specific loads. Rest being same forged wheels can be lighter even while still as rigid as heavier cast ones. Also often oem wheels are too strong then it's really needed due manufacturer erring on safe side to lessen any possible warranty work even if car is abused way above reasonable, with owner driving it without any care over worst roads possible at high speeds. Mentioned some posts above as example RPF1 imho is reasonable compromise of strong enough but light wheels. Something like Kosei K4R (even lighter, with weight on par to forged wheels of that side, but seen them talked about as easy to bend wheels) might be lightened too much.
Well, however things end, if someone decides to change stock wheels to aftermarket ones (most probably for looks), it's worth to at least not go for heavier ones. If it can be afforded, then - lighter ones, that are still sufficiently strong.
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Yes, all things considered equal, a lighter wheel is preferable but as I mentioned, there are always compromises. All wheels are manufactured with certain price, weight, stiffness targets. Compare wheels in Enkeis Racing line to the RR line. Many lighter and cheaper wheels are available in the Racing line but for drivers who value feedback and require more durable wheels for bouncing off curbs and pulling 2+ gs around corners, the RR wheels are for them. Of course, if you want an exceptionally stiff and lightweight wheel, I hear carbon fibre is making the rounds these days... but expect to pay around $3000 per wheel right now...