How much difference will -5lbs make?

[makinen]

Originally Posted by Wayno

The mechanical grip you gain (with 4 wheels) far, far outweighs the difference in acceleration (2 wheels).
Even the OEM 16" Enkei wheels are a handling upgrade over the 17" Subaru wheels.

1. 16x7 SSR Type C (so jealous)
2. 16x7 RH CP-035R
3. 16x7 Volk TE37 (the only ones you'll easily find second hand)

Mine is 16x7.5 SSR Type C.
Very hard to get them as new.

Here is a picture after lowered.

[CatDaddysBBQ]

on an old car, I dropped 2.5 lbs per wheel and it was absolutely noticeable. 5 will feel terrific. I can't stress how great the lighter wheels felt with the car.

I have a new set of wheels that I'll be using next spring after the winter, and they're a 5.5lb drop from stock, and I am so excited about it.

[ZDan]

Originally Posted by Wayno

People who say you won't notice a difference need more sensitive ass cheeks.

Originally Posted by CatDaddysBBQ

on an old car, I dropped 2.5 lbs per wheel and it was absolutely noticeable. 5 will feel terrific. I can't stress how great the lighter wheels felt with the car.

Most people are prone to "feeling a difference" when they make a change. But they want and *expect* to feel a difference.

Blind back to back testing, where you don't know which wheels your on, I still bet you'd be very hard pressed to detect a 5 lb. change in wheel weights (same wheel dimensions, same tires) by itself.

[themajesticone]

@troek How low is your drop from stock?

[troek]

about 25mm-30mm. never measured my self, just goin of manufactures specs.

[Miniata]

Originally Posted by ZDan

Blind back to back testing, where you don't know which wheels your on, I still bet you'd be very hard pressed to detect a 5 lb. change in wheel weights (same wheel dimensions, same tires) by itself.

A lot of it depends on the total before/after weights, as to whether or not the average person could feel a 5 lb difference. For me it was a lot easier to feel a 5 lb difference on a small car like my Miata, where the total wheel/tire package was around 25-30 lb per corner than it was on my Mustang, where I was looking at weights in the 45-50 lbs range per corner.

The twins will be somewhere in between that range, as the stock setup weighs 41 lbs per corner. On my BRZ, I switched from the 41 lb stock setup to wheels that were 6 lbs lighter than stock but tires that were 3 lbs heavier than stock. I couldn't tell any difference in the weight loss, but there were huge improvements in grip by moving to stickier tires (Dunlop Star Specs).

[CatDaddysBBQ]

Originally Posted by ZDan

Most people are prone to "feeling a difference" when they make a change. But they want and *expect* to feel a difference.

Blind back to back testing, where you don't know which wheels your on, I still bet you'd be very hard pressed to detect a 5 lb. change in wheel weights (same wheel dimensions, same tires) by itself.

Disagree. the wheels in question were bought for style/price. I didn't know they were lighter until I checked after I had them mounted and drove for a couple of days. I absolutely was not looking for a difference, I totally noticed it, found out about the weight loss after some googling.

[makesdrivingfunagain]

Originally Posted by Wayno

People who say you won't notice a difference need more sensitive ass cheeks.

More often than not when you get lighter wheels you'll also get wider, stickier tyres with thicker sidewalls, so even though you still might have less mass overall (which still helps your suspension), it's distributed towards the outside of the wheel which negates the rotational aspect.

It's a shame the yanks don't get access to the 16" oem wheels. Same offset, and tyre width and weight but 2.2kg lighter wheel, which is immediately and undeniably noticeable.

Yes, I agree. I went with a 16x7 WedsSport SA15R and lost 5lbs per wheel. I then went with a Continental Extreme Contact DW 225/50/16 weight 21lbs. So I not only dropped 5lbs of weight per wheel but also gained width from the tire. The car felt better with road feel and grip and also was more comfortable. I drove the stock setup daily for 14 months before the switch. This was the best of both worlds for me and my street car setup. It handles way better and is lighter.

[DarkSunrise]

If it's a big enough change in wheel weight, there'll be a noticeable difference in ride quality, steering feedback, and road noise. I'd bet anybody could notice the difference, even in a blind comparison.

On my GTI, I went from 29 lbs. stock wheels to 18 lbs. aftermarket wheels. 11 lbs. delta. Very easy to notice the difference. On the highway, there's much more vibration/feedback through the steering wheel, the steering feels lighter at speed (possible reduced gyroscopic effect?), the wheels seem like they keep contact with the road better, there's more road noise, and I consistently average about 1 MPG better gas mileage tracked by the onboard computer.

On my FR-S, I went from stock 20 lbs. wheels to 18 lbs. wheels and didn't notice much of a difference. More recently I swapped to 15 lbs. wheels (5 lbs. delta from stock) and noticed a pretty large difference in feedback and sensation. But since I also switched to a stiffer tire, I can't pinpoint where the difference is coming from.

I'm confident in 10 lbs. being fairly noticeable. I'm optimistic about 5 lbs., but not certain.

Also ~1.5x is the proper multiplier to calculate the difference in acceleration. Enkei's quote of 20x is utterly ridiculous. My GTI definitely does not feel like it lost 880 lbs lol.

[Yoniyama]

I have a set of Enkei RPF-1 and stock tyres.

The ride quality has improved slightly, but still very choppy. Acceleration, handling and braking also feel better (but I never measure it scientifically).

It works the other way around - you get used to the improvement quickly but never get over any deterioration. I had to change back to stock wheels and tyres for a while, and the ride became unacceptable.

My wife ran over a pot hole, at around 20 mph, and bent one RPF-1 slightly. Otherwise, the RPF-1 is ok. Just be careful of road hazard.

Of course, ultra light-weight wheels (as low as 10.8 lb/wheel) and 2-piece brake rotors (less about 5lb/rotor) will drop the front unsprung weight by about 20%. And that would make a significant difference. Only if you want to spend more than US$3,000.

Car and Driver ran a controlled test on different size wheels/tyres:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...d-tires-tested

The test result is similar to observations noted here.

[funwheeldrive]

Originally Posted by troek

@Yui-Chan ill take some pics later today.

Would these wheels bolt on directly without any modification?

[troek]

Yep. They fit perfect.