Light wheels Vs Pretty boy wheels..

K

kyepan

New Member
Allo there..

So there are this set of red :oops: 15" aluminum wheels in the garage that used to be on my r when it got imported..

The previous owner was nice enought to put a fancy set of OZ Polaris's on instead, also fifteen inch, and keep the old wheels.

now, by my reconing the red ones weigh 5kg each without tyre.. and the OZ's weigh 10kgs (9.8to be precice) without tyre.. so they weigh half as much.. thats quite a difference for identically sized wheels.


www.wheelweights.net for a big ass list of wheels and how much they weigh.. list one does them by manufacture.. see how much yours weigh..

ok enough drivvle and on to my qestion. How much performance gain / handelling should i expect from a wheel weighing half as much? i realise this reduces the unsprung weight.. but will it be noticabe? is it easier to stop a light wheel when braking? so does it make the car stop quicker? :? etc etc..

reason for asking the question is that i am not too fussed about how the wheels look so long as they do their job, and i need new tyres (going for toyo t1s's) .
:D
thanks as always
8)
 
S

Sirnixalot

Guest
so they are lighter AND they are red (i assume you have a RED R by your avatar)..........WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!!!!

This message was brought to you with the kind compliments of Automobile Anarexic's......We make your car lighter! 8)

:lol:
 
J

J-GTi-R

Guest
Not wanting to start the whole wheel size arguement, but if you're like me and bought the car because it's fast not because it looks good WHACK'EM ON!!!

Any performance increasing mod that is that easy doesn't even need asking about! Don't forget to post up the results though... 8)
 
S

Sirnixalot

Guest
A little physics discussion about wheels you guys might find interesting

JB - on iz lunch says:
hi there,

JB - on iz lunch says:
have you got a min?

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
hey

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
yup

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
whats on your mind?

JB - on iz lunch says:
ts a wheel question actually

JB - on iz lunch says:
light wheels are good right?

JB - on iz lunch says:
unsprug weight and all that

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
read my reply

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
on the forum

JB - on iz lunch says:
ok will do now

JB - on iz lunch says:
he he

JB - on iz lunch says:
it was playing up.. so i closed it

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
ohh ok

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
in 3 short letters

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
YES!

JB - on iz lunch says:
lol

JB - on iz lunch says:
5kgs is light for a fifteen" wheel

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
yes it is

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
its light for any wheel really

JB - on iz lunch says:
that wheel weights link was good too.. i recon more people would switch to smaller wheels if they knew how much extra weight they were carrying
We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:

yeah its pretty informative

JB - on iz lunch says:
erm, was discussing it with dad (he has diploma in mechanical engeneering) and i was asking him wether the force required to stop a heavier spinning object at high speed would affect the overall braking of the car signicantly, cause of the turning enertia, centrepetal force etc... and he coudn't give me a straight answer which is most unlike him..

JB - on iz lunch says:
so i thought i would ask your good self.

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
yes

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
it helps greatly

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
its like a flywheel

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
the wheel stores potential energy when its spinning

JB - on iz lunch says:
cause when i tried to sit down and work out the turning force of a 10kg wheel at 70mph it worked out at 100kgs or sommit like that

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
potential energy is proportionate to the mass of the object

JB - on iz lunch says:
exactly

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
the less mass you have the less energy the object can hold

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
when the potential energy has to be converted to heat when braking a wheel with less mass ill not create as much heat

JB - on iz lunch says:
but he tried to tell me that it would only make the brakes lock quicker.. but if you think about it, its like having four weights travelling very quickly that you have to stop before you can reduce the speed of the actual car.. .. and then i got confused

JB - on iz lunch says:
ok i get you

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
less brake work and less fade

JB - on iz lunch says:
nice!

JB - on iz lunch says:
so all those boys going around with big flash alloys are actually making their braking worse.

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
yup

JB - on iz lunch says:
but by what percentage.

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
ahh that is the trick

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
i am not that deep into that stuff

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
lol

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
im not sure

JB - on iz lunch says:
well you have helped lots anyway, so thats cool

We Drink Pepsi By Di Case says:
cool
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
I bought the car because it was small and fast.. I didn't care about looks

I also bought a 10inch subwoofa instead of a 12.. because it weighed less

I have work RS betas (16inch) on my car - 6.5kgs each I think.. hard to get info on

but I want 17inch chromies!! argh!@#!!!!!!
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Always go for the lighter wheel possible unless ur trying to build a show car. The following components will be happier:

- Your gearbox
- suspension
- drivetrain
- brakes
- steering
- wheel bearings
- tyres
- engine
as you can see its a win-win-win situation plus handling is much better
 
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