Are lighter wheels worth it ?

H

hew1

Member
Hi all,
Very happy to have got the zed out after winter rest,but I can't help but think it feels a bit "heavy" for want of a better word,also the ride is very hard and I ain't getting any younger :) Oh,I should add it's a 2004 3.0 with 108''s and non RFT.
So,I'm thinking of swapping to TSW forged 17''s with 225 45 17 front and 255 40 17 rear, which are by my calculations approx 11.5 lbs lighter per wheel (with maybe slight gain in tyre weight due to wider sidewall),that's a massive saving but its going to cost me £1200.So before I part with my hard earned I would love to hear from anyone with first hand experience of doing this,do you think I will notice any difference?I want it to feel more nimble and light footed,hope that makes sense,hard to put in words...

Thanks in advance Mark
 
Simply put,yes! Reducing unsprung weight can do amazing things.
Not only affecting handling, but also braking, grip and other things.

Where I work, we sell Neuspeed wheels for the VW/Audi stuff, they are significantly lighter than the stock wheels (even the larger sizes).
The amount of praise we get from customers who've been surprised by the difference they have made.

Just wish they made BMW fitment ones lol.
 
I once read that unsprung weight is equal to 4x that of 'normal weight'. What I mean by that is that you'd have to remove 4x as much weight from the car to achieve the same result when saving weight on wheels.

So yes, definitely worth it, according to that. Whether it's true or not is anyone's guess.
 
I have style 32 wheels (if that's what they are called) in 18 inch. Even with ///M fitment winter tyres (higher sidewall front and rear staggered fitment) they weighed a total of 27kg lighter than my Original Fitment wheels. They feel appreciably lighter when you pick them up.

Originals fitment



Winter wheels - (now summer fitment) at least 27kg lighter in total.



This may be a cheaper way forward if you can live with the dated design and they come in 17in?

The ///M fitment tyres DID make a difference to the ride with just an increase from 35 to 40 at the rear and 45 from 40 on the fronts (sidewall height). I bought 3.0si fitment in the end however to save £100 in tyre costs and I can live with the ride as is. I weighrd each wheel and tyre against the original fitment and found them an average of 7kg lighter each.
 
I once made a calculated estimate that if you have rims (18") that are 4kg lighter (per piece), you also get virtual 11Nm of extra torque from the engine when accelerating from 0-62 in 5 seconds.
Just from the power it takes to accelerate (rotationally) that extra weight. So apart from the power it takes to accelerate it horizontally.
And lighter wheels also have a lower "gyroscopical effect" so changing direction (turning) is also easier. It requires less force, so the force resulted from the grip in corners can be used to aid the rest of the body in turning/cornering.

So you have the following benefits:
- better grip; the wheels will follow bumps and holes on the road surface better (less mass=less inertia)
- better acceleration (and braking): it takes less energy to spin the wheels up/down, and there is less mass in the horizontal acceleration/decelleration
- better turning: apart from the lower mass in general, lighter wheels have less gyroscopical effect, so it requires less force to change direction (more nimble car)
 
Thanks guys for your very helpful comments.
Paulgs1000 I think the type 32 look good,I am more interested in weight loss than ride so I will def have look for some,also I can obviously keep original tyres...
Hmm decisions,decisions ?
Also,if I go the tsw route I am thinking Bathurst in dark gunmetal gloss,this on my silver car...views or other ideas much appreciated. ..
 
Reducing the rolling diameter will make the car accelerate faster or feel like it's faster... summat like that as it changes the gearing of the system....
Too late in the weekend to give a better reason
 
domsz4 said:
Reducing the rolling diameter will make the car accelerate faster or feel like it's faster... summat like that as it changes the gearing of the system....
Too late in the weekend to give a better reason
Click to expand...
Smaller overall diameter =quicker acceleration lower top speed
Larger overall diameter =slower acceleration higher top speed
 
It's true that changing the overall diameter (or rolling radius I think it's called) will affect the acceleration etc,however it will also affect the speedo accuracy so I will keep it to the original diameter by slight change in tyre sidewall depth.
I am thinking of fitting the darker colour so the smaller rim may not be so obvious....any thought's, also will the tsw bathurst suit the zed ??
 
+1 what paulgs1000 said.

I have Style 32 reps in black at the moment (18" though) and they're lighter than my ellipsoids. The car really feels a lot "nippier" for want of a better word. Not sure what to do when summer comes and the ellipsoids go back on... might be looking for a lighter summer wheel too :)
 
Thanks stuartC, the type 32 wheels seem to be the way forward,I will be looking for the 17 inch version as would like the deeper sidewall....tho I still like the tsw bathurst,would be interested in people's opinions on them,has anyone got them fitted?
 
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