Lighter wheels, what to expect..

[diss7]

I've been thinking about the potential gains I could expect if I changed over to v.light wheel wheels on the ae86.

At the moment I run either 15x7 ET0 with a 25mm spacers, or a 15x8 ET-8 no spacer, superlight/watanabe copies, from Palmside.

Weighing them without tyres, the 15x7 is 7.9kg and the 15x8 is 8.3kg. The 15x8 ends up being the lighter option as the wheel spacer needed with the 15x7 is 1.2kg.

Being NA, my setup is all about response. Toda fly wheel, ITB's, I've binned the PS as well.

Looking at TE37v's in 15x8.5 -5; these weigh only 5.3kg. That's at least 3kg less of unsprung weight per corner. 6kg less that the motor has to spin up.

How greater affect will this have? Difficult to measure. Obviously it will have some, but will it be significant?

I quite like drifting on my current wheels, they look good for copies, they're less than $200 each, which means I don't really care about them. They're tough as shit as well.

The volks would be closer to $1k per wheel, and I'd need 10 minimum. And the thought of drifting on Volks is

That said, getting more power out of the beams will cost a shit load, and I'm not all that keen as I love ringing it without mercy.

Any experience on dropping so much wheel weight??

[Dell'Orto]

I'm unsure how much weight difference there was between the 16" rims I had vs the 15" Tom's rims I have on my Levin, but it certainly felt a bunch freer revving once I put the 15's on. Kinda hard to quantify I guess

[2jayzgte]

As above when I went from a rather heavy wheel to my current TE37s the difference was noticeable especially under acceleration just seemed to pull alot freer and easier.

[KinLoud]

Benefits of lighter components... VS drawbacks

If the car is lighter...
- if will accelerate a bit faster

If the unsprung weight is lighter
- suspension responds better to uneven surfaces

Lighter rotating components...
The biggest benefit is with lighter engine components as the engine has less rotational inertia so can increase revs faster. This is as if the engine has a bit more power.
- lighter crank, flywheel etc
- most benefit in 1st gear as the engine revs are increasing at the fastest rate
- much less benefit in gears 2, 3, 4, 5, (and 6 if you're lucky)
- very small benefit with lighter wheel/tyres fors rotational intertia

Disadvantages
- lighter car vs cost... a carbon fibre bonnet is lighter but the $ could be spent on a lighter safer race seat or more tyres, fuel etc for more track days.

- lighter engine components... flywheel may not take as much abuse (getting hotspots from clutch slipping or kicking)

- unsprung weight... lighter wheels cost more and take less abuse, it can be hard to replace just one wheel if you damage it.

[jacobrjett]

when i was into downhill mountainbiking everyone was worried about bike weight, (seeing as your trying to wrestle the thing down a hill without the help of an engine) our rule of thumb was that wheel weight would give the bike about 4x the benefit then compared to removing any weight that doesnt move

in theory removing 5 kilos from the wheelset would make the bike feel the same as if you lost 20 kilos from the frame of the bike

principle may be similar, or it may not be, just my input

[rollaholic]

if you are really concerned about the weight of your wheels, perhaps you should reconsider using such wide rims - bound to be some weight savings going back to a 15x7 or something too.

[diss7]

if you are really concerned about the weight of your wheels, perhaps you should reconsider using such wide rims - bound to be some weight savings going back to a 15x7 or something too.

Not really. As stated above, by time I space them out it's actually heavier.

[rollaholic]

yeah i meant a 15x7 volk, without spacer.

point is there is more to wheel choice than just weight right - how it makes the car looks has some value. you dont want 15x7s without spacers cos it wont look sweet.

i'd be the same.

i mean do your current wheels give you problems? if not i'd suggest the money could probably be better spent elsewhere.

[rx7guy]

Some interesting articles to read:

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested

http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/32-brakes-wheels-tires-sponsored-jscspeed-com/64877-does-wheel-weight-matter.html

http://forum.miata.net/vb/archive/index.php/t-370186.html

http://www.modified.com/tech/modp-0906-performance-wheel-test/viewall.html

[diss7]

Interesting reads, thanks!

[Celica RA45]

new sets of te37 v and normal te37 in 15x8 etc cost me 2500 a set of 4 in aussie money
i go through auto tecknik tuning in sydney as he was the cheapest in any where in oz ,but takes 3months from your half deposit thou
so about 3100 nz plus postage

[DRFTIN]

what about just something in between the 2?
from memory superlites are one of the heavier wheels around so there should be something more affordable that are 7-8kg. yeah cheapies might break occasionally but then they're cheap to replace

also light wheels make a big difference on your driveline when drifting, much easier on things with the sudden clutch dumps etc

[Al]

diss I'll get hold of my guy in HK and see what he can find for you in genuine TE37. They will be s/h but he will actually be able to find some good sizes unlike the fail sellers on Trademe.

[diss7]

Aw sweet hooks up bro chur.

[diss7]

what about just something in between the 2?
from memory superlites are one of the heavier wheels around so there should be something more affordable that are 7-8kg. yeah cheapies might break occasionally but then they're cheap to replace

also light wheels make a big difference on your driveline when drifting, much easier on things with the sudden clutch dumps etc

I'd def rock some thing like these - http://949racing.com/15x8-6ul-matte-bronze.aspx as they're cheap and light. But +36 offset is poos.

[DRFTIN]

yeah finding good offsets is always hard. really stuck with rota if you want cheapies i think
just investigating another wheel i could sell you early next year that might suit, 15x8 or 9 0 offset. nice looking wheel with big dish. but being dished they might be heavy...

[diss7]

yeah finding good offsets is always hard. really stuck with rota if you want cheapies i think
just investigating another wheel i could sell you early next year that might suit, 15x8 or 9 0 offset. nice looking wheel with big dish. but being dished they might be heavy...

I'd look at it for sure. Only in an 8" though. I'm only running 195's and its too much on a 9". I'll keep trawling the net for cheapish 15x8 light wheels, aroud ET0.

[rollaholic]

i thought those 6uls were available in a bunch of offsets?

[Dunny]

Have you looked at the superlite GTR version, abit more pricey but lighter than the standard version

[Al]

Genuine Te37 in bronze, mint condition, 15x8 +15 $2k usd incl shipping.