I am looking for a good set of light 16 wheels for my R56. I have been leaning towards the OZ UL wheels (decent price and I believe 14.4 lbs) but I am now looking at the SSR type C (about $100 more each but only 11.5 lbs).

I would like to reduce the unsprung weight of the car to improve handling. I enjoy curvy mountain roads and I will be looking into autocross and maybe one DE event this summer. I also commute on some bad roads as well with a few bad pot holes thrown in for good measure.

I plan to buy a set of 205x50x16 tires to go with whatever wheel I end up getting.

Is there any issue with these SSR's being TOO light?

Any other thoughts on these wheels?
Do they have a quality finish? Any issues?

Also, does anyone know if these the type C and SSR logos can be removed from the wheels? Are they stickers? Are they baked into a clear coat?

Thanks!

 

I ordered 10lb 15" BBS RG-F for my car, thinking ZOMG! it's gonna be cool!! Nope. The squishy sidewalls ruined handling and steering response and I didn't notice much if any difference from lighter wheels.

 

Thanks, do you have any thoughts on what might be the sweet spot then for wheel and tire size? I was thinking maybe 16" wheels with 50's or maybe 17" wheels with 45s? I guess it depends on the definition of sweet spot but what is your opinion? (I think you might have a good opinion on this....)

Thanks.

 

light wheels are very hard to balance correctly. you might encounter
intermittent vibration at 45-50mph range through the steering wheel.

 

There is no issue with the lack of weight. Given the roads you have described, strength will be a concern. SSRs are supposed to be strong, but they can get bent like any other wheel. If replacing an expensive wheel is not a problem for you, then you would be fine with the SSRs. You would want to go to a good shop for balancing since the chimpanzees who are usually assigned to wheel balancing either cannot or do not care to perform the task correctly.

 

for every day driving, 16x7 on 215/50/16 or 17x7 with 215/45/17 is a nice setup. Anything around 40lbs or less mounted/balanced is a big improvement over stock (don't forget tire weight - it matters more than wheel weight unless you can somehow mount the wheel outside the tire )

 

If you ask me, a slightly taller sidewall of a good, sticky tire and a stiffer sidewall of a cheaper performance tire should perform the same. With a taller sidewall, you might lose a little steering response but you gain pothole insurance and a more compliant ride. Plus, you lose the overall rotating mass of a taller, heavier wheel and tire combo. I'd say 16in myself.

 

huh?

 

I just woke up and my mind hasn't started going too well, yet. I was just thinking that a taller sidewall, better quality (ie-stickier) tire should perform just as well as if not better than a cheaper, lower quality shorter sidewall tire. I could very well be wrong, it's just what I thought.

 

well, yeah sidewall height has little to do with performance if we're comparing two identical tires that are one size off.

 

Yeah, I realized I missed the topic. I was going more about tire size than I was wheel weight.

 

So, everything else being the same, will these two tires from the same manufacturer on the same wheel (but different sized wheel) perform nearly the same? (mostly regarding steering response and turn-in)

- 205/50/16
- 205/45/17

 

I had three sets of wheels for my 2002 MINI Cooper... 15inch holeys, 16inch Panasports, and 17inch R90 (BBS cross spoke). The car handled very well with the 15s, almost the same with the 16s, and not that great with the 17s... R90s and tires were something like 50lbs each! With my 15s, I just pumped up the tires a little more than recommended, and the car did great... even took it on the track.

Lighter wheels definitely are much better. Lighter, forged wheels (like the BBS RG-F) are best because they are light and very strong, but you pay dearly for them.

 

the 17" has 10% less sidewall. It will be a bit firmer riding and if the load rating is the same, a bit quicker turn-in.

I ran 205/45/17 as narrower tires are sometimes more fun....quicker reflexes at the expense of less overall grip. I swapped to 215/45/17 (same model) and I was amazed at how much better turn-in was (and of course ultimate grip). The difference was that the 215/45 had the XL load rating, which means a stiffer sidewall.

 

I have a 2008 MCS with standard suspension. I may upgrade the suspension in the future. Does anyone know if I will have rubbing issues with the below?

- Bridgestone RE-01R @ 215/45/17
- Mounted on OZ Ultraleggera wheels - 17 inch with 37 offset

Thanks !!

 

those are tall and wide. I have them on my car and am lowered, but also have -2F/-1.5R camber. you should probably be ok

 

Everything is a trade-off between multiple factors: weight, suspension performance, ride compliance, adhesion, turn-in, rim protection, aesthetics, rotating and unsprung mass, price, etc. A change in one factor will affect others - e.g., increased wheel diameter +decreased sidewall height = crisper turn-in but greater unsprung/rotating mass, poorer suspension control and greater risk of pothole damage.

Given that all is a compromise where wheels/tires are concerned, I feel that 16" is the sweet spot for the MINI. (The designers at BMW reportedly felt this way too.) Lightweight, looks good, enough but not too much sidewall, good selection of both wheels and tires.

Lighter is always better, provided the wheel is strong enough to withstand the rigors of everyday driving. Forged wheels are stronger than cast, and therefore can be made lighter. But they are significantly more expensive, and can be damaged by impact just as any other wheel. The 16" OZ UL's I mounted - a lightweight, good-looking cast wheel - combined with a lightweight tire, provided a very noticeable handling improvement over the OEM wheel/tire combination. I would have liked even lighter wheels (such as the SSR-C's you are contemplating) but did not care to spend lavishly on forged wheels. You have to decide what your priorities are, and buy accordingly.

As PGT points out, tire weight is a very important consideration, given that the tire is at the outside circumference of the wheel and therefore contributes in a major way to rotating mass, as well as to unsprung weight. Try to find a tire in the 18-20 lb range. Toyo and General UHP Exclaim are two good offerings in this category.

 

Thanks everyone for the great feedback on this topic!

Diploman, just wondering, what size tire did you mount on your OZ wheels?

 

Augie, I'm running 205/50/16 tires on my UL's.

 

I just mounted a set of Konig Feathers with 215x45 Nitto's today and dropped 8.5 lbs per corner from the S-lite and runflat weight. this is a difference you can definitely feel. Better acceleration and suspension action are 2 things immediately noticed..Very pleased with the change.

 

bah! that scale can't be nearly as accurate as the one in my bathroom

 

Very nice wheels Modshack! I also have a set sitting in my garage awaiting the warmer weather. Only I went with 215/40/17 Falken Azenis RT-615's, mainly because my car is dropped a bit so I didn't want any clearance issues. The tires are uber stiff.I can't wait to put them on the car!

 

Don't all bathroom scales read 10 lbs light?

 

Anyone else experience this? I have same thing on my SSRs/GS-D3 (Tire Rack balanced) while my winter wheels, S-lites/Pirelli Snowsports non-RF (Town Tire Fair balanced), feel dead smooth at all speeds.

 

Alex@tirerack recommended I go with a wheel with at least a 42 offset to avoid rubbing if planning on running 215s. I'm getting the sport suspension though.

Others have said that the RE-01Rs run very wide for their spec, too, so I would worry about rubbing with a 215/45-17 RE-01R on a wheel with only a 37 offset.

I ended up ordering 17" Enkei Racing RP03s (45mm offset), shod with 215/45-17 Goodyear F1 GSD3s.