Quote:
Originally Posted by switchlanez
And I hate to beat on a dead horse and this is subjective but I haven't given enough credit to how much of a difference lighter weight wheels make for the price.
You may know this but unsprung rotating mass is 3x harder to accelerate than sprung weight. Shave 6.25 lbs/wheel, that's effectively 6.25x4x3 = 75 lbs of sprung weight removed. And you'll feel it. I felt it when I made the wheel switch. My buddy felt so impressed when he drove my car (before I supercharged it) that he also grabbed a set. That savings is greater for the 86's curb weight proportionally than, say, a Mustang or other sports cars in general and especially appreciable given the 86's torque. People spend more than $3k to shed similar proportions of weight without sacrificing comfort/functionality or to gain throttle response without sacrificing reliability (lightweight spinning transmission/drivetrain components) and there's labor cost/work involved.
If I had to choose between a supercharger or super lightweight wheels, given their prices, I'd choose the wheels. It's a 3-punch combo improving handling (guess this thread makes that subjective), looks, and [deceivingly] throttle response. But against TRD wheels ($1k for a slight variation of stock wheels which I'd guess weigh ~17 lbs as my 17x7.5 15-spoke STI cast wheels weighed 18.4 lbs)... I'd choose the supercharger. If you spend $3-$5k on suspension I see $1k on wheels as a skimp (also due to aesthetics/fitment). Guess I value wheel-on-body aesthetics more than you.
Considering what other wheels offer, with TWS I get more than what I pay for.
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You make excellent points about value for money. This thread, and the back and forth arguments (including my own), just tell me objectively that moving to these wheels will not give me virtually anything in terms of performance. In retrospect, I think I was doing the same thing others with their wide wheel arguments were doing -- trying to justify the purchase. I can't justify wide wheels on this car for just street driving (autocross and track excepted), and I can't justify the purchase of these wheels and tires for street performance either. So it's a matter of look and ego.
All of the responses here lead me to the decision just to stick with stock for a while, and perhaps, if I'm not satisfied with the tires I get with the car, just upgrade the tires. Any suspension or lowering changes will decrease ride comfort and moving to wide tires will decrease road handling, especially in front.
Thank you all for your input. It did make a difference in what I plan to do.... Perhaps, subconsciously, I was trying to justify a purchase that in the back of my mind, was questionable. Now off to my psychiatrist......