Is 12lb total difference in weight going to affect a lot?

[rvoll]

Unless you are being very competitive at the track, wheel weight makes very little difference. You don't need wheels wider than 8" or tires wider than 225 for performance. Wider wheels/tires weigh more, but a few pounds will make virtually no difference on the street. That said, tires make a huge difference. Spend your money on really good tires. If you are buying the wheels for looks, then who really cares about weight.

[Gunman]

It's in my nature, to dislike unsprung weight, so I went with the lightest wheel I liked, and could afford.

[SUB-FT86]

17x9 45 or 35mm RPF1 is what I like to call the TRI-FECTA wheel

1. Lightweight(15.65 -15.95lbs) like a damn forged wheel!
2. Ultra low Price($1026 shipped!) unlike a damn forged wheel!
3. Quality(Everybody races these things!)

[OfficeWorker]

What sized wheels and what sized tires?

In my personal opinion, I feel that a bigger weight increase caused by wheels can definitely affect it enough to notice, and heavy cast wheels in a larger size than OEM + often heavier tires that accompany this can equate to a noticeable difference in regards to acceleration, steering response, ride quality, and fuel economy (all of which can certainly be mitigated/aggravated by tire choice.) I made the mistake of buying wheels and tires for a Mazdaspeed Protege that added about 12 pounds per-wheel (when factoring in both the wheel and tire weight increase) - I did not like the way the car behaved and ultimately wound up selling them for quite a loss. (It's worth noting that part of that was attributable for me going for the Yokohama AVS ES100, which was a middle-of-the-road tire, and on the smaller, lighter wheels that replaced them I went for the far superior Bridgestone S03 Pole Position.) (It seems unlikely that 3 pounds per-wheel with tire will make any such a sort of dramatic difference, though.)

Older semi-scientific test:
https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...d-tires-tested

[rvoll]

Originally Posted by OfficeWorker

Older semi-scientific test:
https://www.caranddriver.com/feature...d-tires-tested

This test shows that wide wheels and tires just don't help. A large portion of the people on this forum won't believe this so they can justify buying those wide wheels and tires. They also make the mistake that if they buy lighter rims, it solves the weight problem. But they don't realize that wider tires weigh more and it negates the few pounds they save with a lighter rim. Oh well....

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by rvoll

This test shows that wide wheels and tires just don't help. A large portion of the people on this forum won't believe this so they can justify buying those wide wheels and tires. They also make the mistake that if they buy lighter rims, it solves the weight problem. But they don't realize that wider tires weigh more and it negates the few pounds they save with a lighter rim. Oh well....

What would happen if I showed you a test that didn't use tires with different tread wear ratings and didn't arbitrarily hold the tire pressure the sameand showed that a heavier wheel and tire was faster?

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by fatoni

What would happen if I showed you a test that didn't use tires with different tread wear ratings and didn't arbitrarily hold the tire pressure the sameand showed that a heavier wheel and tire was faster?

Did you read the test of C&D above? Do you still believe that bigger is ALWAYS better? Some people will never learn ...

[rvoll]

Originally Posted by fatoni

What would happen if I showed you a test that didn't use tires with different tread wear ratings and didn't arbitrarily hold the tire pressure the sameand showed that a heavier wheel and tire was faster?

From a nationally rated car magazine or testing organization and not two high school physics teachers? Bring it on..... You should also look at the tests done with Tirerack where they put on ultra high performance 215's on an 86 and said it was too much traction. But that test was done by a nationally known race driver. What would he know?????

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Did you read the test of C&D above? Do you still believe that bigger is ALWAYS better? Some people will never learn ...

More misquotes? Never learn is right. When I read the article what stood out to me was the part where they said they suspected the difference was due to treadwear.

[fatoni]

Originally Posted by rvoll

From a nationally rated car magazine or testing organization and not two high school physics teachers? Bring it on..... You should also look at the tests done with Tirerack where they put on ultra high performance 215's on an 86 and said it was too much traction. But that test was done by a nationally known race driver. What would he know?????

Yeah grm. I don't know what that last part has to do with anything. You used an article comparing different heights of wheels to come to the conclusion that width doesn't help and all on different tire compound. It's a bit of a stretch bud.

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by fatoni

More misquotes? Never learn is right. When I read the article what stood out to me was the part where they said they suspected the difference was due to treadwear.

No misquote at all. The grippier compound was on the W-rated 18s and 19s wheels and it is the reason to give an advantage in skidpad figures. The smaller wheels had a less grippier compound, but still an advantage on acceleration 0-60, 0-100, 1/4 mile figures. In an older test you were saying that the difference was because of the tire diameter difference and hence a difference in gearing. Now you are trying to find another excuse instead of understanding that bigger is not ALWAYS better.

[mrg666]

Originally Posted by rvoll

This test shows that wide wheels and tires just don't help. A large portion of the people on this forum won't believe this so they can justify buying those wide wheels and tires. They also make the mistake that if they buy lighter rims, it solves the weight problem. But they don't realize that wider tires weigh more and it negates the few pounds they save with a lighter rim. Oh well....

Don't help with what? Speed, grip, mpg? How about writing a coherent sentence first? I think everybody knows that wider tires are heavier, reduce top speed, and have more drag. But sports/race cars generally have wider tires than other cars. I wonder why? Even the car manufacturers are missing it, right? How many more times will you repeat this broken record?

[Ernest72]

In general, removing unsprung weight has the benefit of removing 4 times as much sprung weight. So 12lbs would be like removing 48lbs from the car. It also depends where you remove weight as anything that makes the center of gravity lower and towards the center of the car is generally better. also lighter can effect steering feel as well.

if its just a DD, get the wheel you like for looks, style, etc.. if you want more performance, go lighter.

[OfficeWorker]

Originally Posted by fatoni

What would happen if I showed you a test that didn't use tires with different tread wear ratings and didn't arbitrarily hold the tire pressure the sameand showed that a heavier wheel and tire was faster?

I'd be interested to see the results!