Austin519

What exactly is light weight for rims? 26 lbs? And is there a good performance gain by lighter rims?

Austin519

Austin519

And I've asked this everywhere BUT...do you guys think that the gunmetal black type rims would look good on a NBP TLS or is it too much black?

Austin519

juniorbean

iTrader: (5)

1) Our stock rims are 26 lbs, so anything under that would be better

2) Gunmetal on black would be too much black. Chrome or silver would be sweet.....

SimTypeS

I agree with juniorbean. Besides, gunmetal wouldn't quite match the black.
What size of rim do you want to get?

tdoh

Lighter weight = less unsprung weight at the wheels. Less energy required to spin a lighter wheel vs. a heavier wheel; just like people who put in lighter flywheels. Of course, a lighter wheel is not as durable relative to a heavier wheel--but I'm sure you knew that already...

Tony

1999TL

the lighter wheel being not as durable as a heavier wheel is not entirely correct.....

Road Rage

MY SSR's weigh about 16.5 pounds, and are semi-forged, so they are quite strong.

These should give you some useful info, though they are from a Miata site.
http://www.tcklineracing.com/OPC/wheels.html
http://www.miata.net/faq/wheel_weights.

tdoh

I guess I should have clarified my statement--all other things being the same, a lighter wheel is not as durable as a heavier wheel. Is a 20 lb forged wheel more durable than a 30 lb forged one? Somehow, I don't think so--unless the laws of physics are different where you live.

I know that a well-constructed lighter wheel can be more durable than a poorly-constructed heavier wheel...

Tony

tdoh

Yeah, but are they stronger than a similarly-constructed one that weighs 25 pounds?

Anyways, let's not digress any further from the original issue--that lighter wheels do have some performance benefits vs. a heavier wheel.

Tony

astro

my volks are forged and weigh under 15 pounds each...
there is definite improvement in stopping and turning the car...
as well as great acceleration improvements...

Road Rage

Isn't the moment of inertia of a heavier wheel greater, suggesting it will not deflect as quickly as a lighter wheel, therby dissipating less energy in the suspension cpmpliance, resulting in more energy transferrence to the tire carcass and wheel?

In other words, what a lighter wheel may lack in dynamic strength on an absolute basis may actually be greater resistance to damage in real world applications.

Austin519

Thanks guys for all the replies! Wow...you guys are really f*cking helpful !

Well...then let me ask this...I'm looking for rims that are somewhat similar looking to stock...not too showy or flashy...and I don't think in chrome either. Silver only I guess. In which case I have two that I like a lot...but someone said that motegi doesn't make good wheels etc. You guys take a look at these and tell me if they're good rims, and if not, are there some similar looking ones out there? And lastly...who makes really light rims? I appreciate it guys...

Austin519

See these rims are not too showy, nothing special...the logo looks nice, not those screws all along the outer rim...and they come in 18's that weigh 26 lbs for $170:

SoundSpeed

What is the difference between forged and semi-forged?

TUFF GONG

Well here's a quote from the SSR page on the Tirerack;

"In a specialized process perfected by Alumax, uniquely structured alloy billets are heated to a semi solid state (the consistency of soft butter) and molded in a specifically engineered forging press. Through an exclusive contract with Alumax, SSR has further developed this technology and is the only manufacturer in the world today producing Semi-Solid Forged alloy wheels. This ultra high tech forging technology creates a very strong and light weight wheel ideal for street or track."

SSR's wheels may not be "cool" looking for some but the weight does make a difference in overall performance of any car. And to me, form follows function And I'm kind of leaning towards these, even when I see a wheel that looks better to me.

EricL

The SSR semi solid forged construction is similar to some of the Formula 1 wheels (so I’ve been told and have read)

I have the SSR Competitions and talked to the factory reps -- here is some info

RE: robustness of the SSR Comp wheels (at a minimum)->

They are about 14 lbs -- this is about 12 lbs lighter than the CLS stock rims. They designed the wheels with a very advanced FEA (Finite Element Analysis) system to keep them light, yet allow them to absorb hits by spreading the load out.

RE: what do you gain in acceleration->

I did a bit of calculating based on some "rough" figures and on our cars loosing 1 lb of wheel weight is almost equal to loosing 6lbs of "static" weight. The 50 lbs weight lost for all 4 of my wheels (vs. stock) feels like a couple of people got tossed out of the car.

Note: this [the effect of lighter wheels] will depend on the make and construction of the wheel. Each make of wheel is constructed differently. For example, one wheel may have a very light set of spokes, but a very heavy flange. Another rim may have heavy and thick spokes but a very light flange.

Finally, the "feel" of the car with lighter tires and wheels makes the road feel MUCH better -- the car feels much better over broken surfaces and the steering is more responsive, etc.

andres

EricL,

I want to get some SSR Decolte's, but it seems as Rod Millen and GTauto are the only two places that I've found that sell them. Is there only one main US importer of these rims and everybody else (i.e. RMM and GT) buys from them? If so, who can I contact to get these rims?

Austin519

I forget if I answered this...but I'm looking to get 18's all around...nothing too big or fancy. What'd you guys think of the two motegi's I posted? And thanks for the forged info that helped a lot...I just don't know if I can pass up a deal like the motegi's...at only $170 apiece for 26 lb 18's wow...

Austin519

TUFF GONG

As they say, "you get what you pay for". $170 a piece (is that retail/street price?) tells me these are cheap wheels. The bad thing is, aside from being heavy they're probably manufactured with a poor quality alloy with a inconsistent grain full of tiny little airpockets = more susceptible to bending.

Unless you live in paradise where the roads are free of hazards, the way I look at it is if I'm going to spend a certain amount of $'s on wheels and tires..I might as well spend a little more to higher my chances of not dealing with the aggravation of a bent rim. Not to mention the help the weight loss provides.

It don't have to be a forged wheel, just stay with a well respected company. JMO

And where are these "Motegi's" made? It seams so many companies are just slapping on Japanese names on anything to sell it.

Who knows, spending more from the get go might be cheaper down the road.

And pratice caution in my way of thinking with my money spending, gets me in some trouble sometimes

EricL

Tire Rack has an exclusive on the SSR Competitions. They may also have an “exclusive” on some of the other wheels.

The distributor/rep. is Eurosport in Hawaii.

Here is the email address: euro@aloha.net

They are in Hawaii and are pretty busy. Tire Rack gave me their name and they have helped me out. If it turns out they are not the importer for the Decolte, they can probably direct you to the correct representative and/or distributor.

cycx

I supposed a lighter wheel will improve performance by decreasing the rotational mass/inertia, allowing for quicker acceleration. I'm no physics major, but as I remember, another component of the rotational mass equation has to do with the diameter of the object in question. Meaning: if the weight is the same, a larger diameter wheel will have more rotational mass than a smaller diameter wheel, because more mass is located farther from the center of the wheel/longer moment arm. If that's the case, I guess a 26lb 17" wheel would theoretically be equivalent to a lighter (22lb?) 18" wheel.
Just thought I'd toss this up there for ppl to think about...

daverman

Correct. You need to know the moment of inertia as well as the weight of the wheel. During acceleration and turns, the moment of inertia is what counts more than the weight of the wheels.

EricL

I left a piece on the Acura CL forum, but it was just to busy earlier. There is a good link that I got the moment of inertia formulas for "simple" objects (ring) and (hoop).

Doing a fair amount of assumption, one should keep a 18" wheel of similar construction to 3-5lbs lighter than a 17" wheel to keep the moment of inertia close to the 17" wheel.

See link below. It is the second response (in the thread) from me [EricL]::

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...threadid=50659

If anyone wants they can make some rough assumptions with the equations or extrapolate via piecewise linear approximation methods.

I = MR^2 (for ring)

"Hoop/Ring with Width (you know ID and OD)"

I = 1/2 M (R1^2 + R2^2)

tdoh

Have you been visiting the "howstuffworks" website lately??

Tony

EricL

No, I did visit the "Fizzics Fizzle" page about 4 months ago and earlier...

A good site for simple physics "stuff" follows:

Fizzics Fizzle http://library.thinkquest.org/16600/...linertia.shtml

Pin0yDrag0n56

What really matters for performance is the weight of the rim w/tires. You could have 26lb 18" (are those Motegi's 26lbs?), but tires for 18" rims are heavier than tires for the 15" steelies on my accord that I use for winter. 18" wheels have more metal in them so they could have that stiffer side wall. I have 5Zigen M-05's and at 1lbs per inch they are 17lbs. That's lighter than stock, but the lightest tires I've found were 22lbs. That would total 39lbs. That's 4 more lbs. a wheel. A total of 16lbs increase. I hope this helped you on your decision.

I wanted to get CL-S rims for my accord, but I was told at a meet that they weigh 35lbs EACH!!!! that's my stock weight not including tires. They said maybe with tires they are 45lbs.!!! Wow.

moomaster_99

The stock rims for CL-S weigh anywhere from 23-26lbs....depending on who you ask. Trust me, for a 17" wheel, this is one of the lighter ones out there.

EricL

Yes, there is some varying quotes of the weight of the CLS wheels. But, Jens, who sure seems to be reliable, got the 26 lb figure. (I have the wheels and brand new MXM4s up the street, and the tires are not mounted on the wheels. Every time I move the tires or the wheels, I think, "man, these are heavy... $#$!!#")

ARE you saying that the CLS wheels are light? (my SSRs are 14 lbs + 23.8 lbs for the Toyo tires [the stock tires are not the lightest])

Did I misunderstand what wheel you are referring to, or are you including 18, 19, and 20 inch wheels that are made out of depleted Uranium rounds?

(I guess I could always carry the stock wheel up to my doctor and tell him it needs a check up to get it weighed on a good balance beam scale )

Austin519

Pin0yDrag0n56:
Well I'm not TOO worried about the tires...I'm getting really thin Pirellis...rubber band tires so my brother calls them...so I think the weight will be similar to that of the stock rubber...

Austin519

TL-SGurl

SSR, VolkRacing and Advan define light weight and durable racing wheels

moomaster_99

Well, I'm saying relative to non-race wheels...I have the volks and they weigh like 12-13lbs..(I'm a lb. lighter...)..but in regards to the average 17" rim...the type-S is middle of the pack...maybe I shouldn't have said light..