Hello everybody,

I am new here and I am trying to better understand what are the pro and cons of light wheels. Without looking at the price, are light wheels always better than heavy (or less light) wheels ? Are forged always better than cast ? I am thinking both at street and track.

From what I know, light wheels provide better acceleration but lower top speed. What are other pro and cons ?

Thank you !!

 

the biggest difference you will notice is the braking capacity.

then the heavy start from standstill.

 

I notice the difference of light wheels when starting from a standstill on a hill.

Light wheels have less mass to get rotating, so you can accelerate faster, same as decelerating--less mass to slow down, so you can brake quicker. Plus you lose weight--I lost a total of 28 pounds in my current configuration, all in wheel weight over my OEM wheels.

In general the lighter you go, the more costly. But go down in size say to 15s and the cost also goes down. I just bought a set of 15s for $79 each and they weigh 13pounds each.

 

better acceleration and lowering top speed only happens when you go lower profile on the tire.... or both... stock diameter is 205/45-17, so long as your tire and wheel combo equals or about the same diameter overall, then top speed... im running 8% smaller than stock combo on my r-compounds, yes, i lowered my top speed, but as those are for autox, i really dont think ill be hitting 200 mph anyways, but i enjoy more brisk acceleration from a combination of lighter wheel/tire, and the smaller overall diameter giving me a gearing advantage

hope that make some sense

 

For me the biggest benifit of light wheel/tire combo is how well it sticks to the pavement on bumpy corners. Huge difference between the Cooper S with S-lites with runflats (one of the heaviest wheel/tire) and my Cooper with 15" Holeys.

 

runflats are only a 1lb or two heavier.

 

Yeah the holies are like 12 pounds and narrower than the S-Lites which I believe is in the 17 to 20 pound range??? Not sure off hand.

My current 15" tires weigh just as much as my 16" tires--the 15" Falken Azenis have very thick sidewalls..the 16" Falken Ziex is lighter and the stiffness is apparent!

Either way, 15" are a heck of a lot of fun to drive on! Especially for Cooper owners (MC).

 

I'm fairly sure the S-lites are about 23-24 lbs a piece. And the run flats are around 23-25 lbs a piece.

 

Oi Vey. There are lots of threads with definitive weights for rims and tires. What seems to be happening here is a mix of wheel and tire *sizes*. We all need to agree on what size rims we're talking about before we start throwing around weights. 17" S-Lites weigh 26lbs, and 17" Dunlop runflats weigh 22lbs for a total of 48lbs. My 17" Kosei K1s weigh 16lbs and the 17" Falken RT615s on them weigh 20lbs for a total (weighed, not calculated) reduction of 12lbs each wheel.

cheers,

 

Guys,

thanks a lot for the explanation. I will keep this in mind when deciding for my new wheels !!! Right now I am undecided between Weds TC-005 in 15x7 and Enkei rpf-1 in 16x7....pretty much the same price and definitely a hard decision to take !! Any suggestion is more than welcome...

Cheers !!

 

While we're on the subject, anyone know the weight of R90's?

Thanks,

 

http://www.mini2.com/forum/faq.php?f...heel_tire_tech

 

Thanks for the link!

 

The Mini Lites are 29.5 lbs. each. The biggest advantage of changing to lighter wheels, other than braking and startability, is the reduction of un-sprung weight. The heavy feeling when cornering is eliminated and it rides better.