Diesel

Sorry, terrible song pun...

Looking at getting 17"ers and saw an ad today for £1k for 4 Oz gold wheels & Toyos (ohh it MUST be Gold) 'Super Legera' or something, but would like to base the deal more on weight than just looks.

Anyone have any idea or comparison of 17" wheel weights? Who's been here!

Thanks for any advice.

D

john banks

Those Super Leg's are very light I was comparing some with my 16s Subaru ones the other week Did someone say they had buckled one?

Diesel

John, are you saying they are lighter than the standard fit 16" alloy wheels? Mines an STi V with stock wheels, and if this is true, then herendeth my research!

Does the de-rigeur Gold paint add any appreciable unsprung weight

D

Alex NL

Gents,

What actual gains (topspeed/acceleration) can be made by fitting a lighter wheel/tyre combination................

Steve vRS

The benifits of lighter wheels are a reduced un-sprung weight. This improves the handling and ride of the car. I've got all the maths at home as I did vehicle dynamics at university 8 years ago!

Steve

Hoppy

Hi guys. I've got OZ P1 wheels which are very similar to Super Ls. They tip the bathroom scales at a smidge under 9kg, which is very light. I think OEM 16in wheels are around this figure - see SIDC FAQ.

John, you may be thinking of my Radius R3 wheels which have buckled for no apparent reason, as I've posted on here. These wheels look great, but I've managed to wreck four of the damn things now, they are not cheap, and weigh a good 11kg. Anybody wanna buy a set ?

Unsprung weight is a theoretical advantage of upgraded wheels, but not in practise. Relative to the weight of the car, you'd need to spend a couple of grand on magnesium or summat to see any meaningful gains. Also, the off-set alters the unsprung weight that the suspension actually sees, therefore an ET48 wheel that sticks out more has greater leverage on the struts (like the Super Ls). P1 wheels are ET52, so effectively lighter.

Performance advantage of bigger wheels (17x7in instead of OEM 16x7in) is the lower sidewall profile - obviously 0.5in lower. Less sidewall flex sharpens the steering and this is immediately noticeable. Add some top quality rubber and the difference between OEM and a good 17in setup is enormous

However, most people upgrade their wheels purely for cosmetic reasons, if they're honest !

Cheers,

Richard.

Pete Croney

Every bit of weight saving counts, but as Hoppy says, don't get too carried away.

When you consider that the TOTAL unsprung weight is 50% of the damper, 50% of the lower wishbone 100% of the cast iron hub, bearing and abs gear, 50% of the driveshaft, 50% of the track control arms, 100% of the brake disc and 100% of the caliper and pads... then 2kg on the wheel is neither here nor there.

The whole lot is probably over 50kg.

Some 4kg forged magnesium wheels, at around £600 a corner would be nice... but are very prone to leaking air.

Equally, be careful of saving too much in an alloy wheel at the expense of strength.

Never really knew what the R3 was made of, but every person I know who had them has bent them without noticing hitting/falling down anything. Should be fine on a smooth track though.

Lars

Great comment Pete.
Most people think unsprung weight is the wheel only, and after using a lot of money on light 17" wheels, they add on big brakes disc and the gain is lost.
Lars

care3

i think the super legs are 7.5 kgs

harvey

iTrader: (48)

Fitted a set of Oz Super Legeras 17" at Tyres Northampton with SO2s to replace standard STi 16" with Potenzas. Set of 17" complete with tyres were 3kg lighter and marginally shortened gearing.