Light weight wheels

[Madone]

Has anyone tried fitting light weight wheels ?, i see Awesome do various wheels that weight around 18lb each, after some internet searching i found that the standard Edition 30 rims are around 26lb, thats 8lb per rim and that can be multiplied as it is rotation weight. In theory this should make a nice difference to acceleration and handling etc due to the unsprung weight.

Years ago i upgraded a car with larger alloys, went from i think 16 to 18 and it totally killed the acceleration and fuel ecomnigy, but cannot quantify the weight diff between those rims at the time. Was likely more than 8lb per corner. Lighter wheels is a interesting option over increasing the engine power, as it could provide the benefits but not the load on the engine/transmission itself

[MC71]

Lots of us run light weight wheels, be they Team Dynamics Pro Race, Oz Alleggerita, Speedline Turinis or a few others. Add some alloy wishbones and hubs and some similar Calipers along with the supporting handling mods and your there.

Oh and its not "instead of power" it's "AS WELL AS POWER". 

[Hurdy]

OZ Allegerita at 17x8" weigh in at just 7kg (15.4lb). Not the cheapest alloy, but very good quality.
Combine this with a good lightweight aftermarket brake set-up and you can be saving 16kg up front and 10kg at the rears. 

[Erno]

Don´t forget the tyres. My Enkei RPF1 18x8" with 225/40 Continental Sport Contact 5 was 17kg (37,48lbs). The wheel is about 8kg (21,43lbs)

[Sug]

My advan Racing RS's weigh under 7kg a corner nice weight save as the 19" tallys are 17kg each

[Madone]

Thanks for the info. What affect If any do the lighter wheels have in the ride ?, I theory it would affect the damping due to the reduction in insprung weight. Does it make it more jittery over bumpy roads. What have you guys experienced ?

Thanks !

[pudding]

It can't get any more jittery than standard!  The ED30 is awful on crap roads because of it's 18s.  If ride quality is a priority, you'd be better off dropping down to a 17 and 45 profile rubber.

[Shoduchi]

It can't get any more jittery than standard!  The ED30 is awful on crap roads because of it's 18s.  If ride quality is a priority, you'd be better off dropping down to a 17 and 45 profile rubber.

You need better suspension.

The OEM springs are too harsh. The OEM dampers could be better...

Get some nice Eibach/H&R springs and some nice Koni/Bilstein dampers and you'll see an huge difference.

Good quality coils can do the same but are more expensive.

[pudding]

It can't get any more jittery than standard!  The ED30 is awful on crap roads because of it's 18s.  If ride quality is a priority, you'd be better off dropping down to a 17 and 45 profile rubber.

You need better suspension.

The OEM springs are too harsh. The OEM dampers could be better...

Get some nice Eibach/H&R springs and some nice Koni/Bilstein dampers and you'll see an huge difference.

Good quality coils can do the same but are more expensive.

That's good to know.  Something like a B12 Sportline kit?  Bilstein stuff is usually rock hard in my experience though?   I used H&R / Koni Yellows in the past as well and the ride over broken tarmac (common where I live) was far worse than the standard suspension.   It was a lot better at speed and made the car feel more planted, but at the expense elsewhere.   As stiff as the OEM setup is, it's not a bad balance for every day use.

I just remember test driving a GTI many years ago on 17s and that wasn't half as crashy over bumps as my ED30 is!   Tyres can be the culprit in some cases I guess.  On both my ED30 and my old R32, the fitment of Eagle F1 Assysmetric 2s ruined the steering feel and ride quality!

[Madone]

It does seem quite hard as standard. However I am trying to find out if fitting lighter wheels will mak it more so ?, does anyone with lighter wheels notice any change in ride quality by just changing the wheels ?

[Shoduchi]

I fitted Eibach Pro-Kit, Koni FSD dampers and a SuperPro ALK, still with Omanyts 17'' that have Michelin Primacy HP at the front and Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric at the rear. Next month I'll have fitted new OZ Ultraleggera 8Jx18'' with Continental SC5. Then I'll be able to check what difference does that make to the ride quality. At the moment it's very comfortable. Just the SALK reduced it a bit over bumps and pot holes.

[Biano44]

It does seem quite hard as standard. However I am trying to find out if fitting lighter wheels will mak it more so ?, does anyone with lighter wheels notice any change in ride quality by just changing the wheels ?

I'd imagine that most people who've fitted lightweight wheels have done a ton of other stuff already/too.
Lightweight wheels shouldn't make the ride harder unless you increase the wheel size. They will simply allow the current set up to work better as its controlling less weight!