Is there any advantage of having Light Weight wheels over the OEM Wheels? Thanks

 

There is a slight performance advantage, depending on how much weight you're actually saving per wheel. Also, since the car has to move less weight, there is a possibility of fuel savings as well.

 

Light weight wheels have less mass (unsprung weight) and therefore less motion of inertia. They will spin up faster, and as a result, better throttle response. In addition, less unsprung weight means the suspension can react faster, and thus better handling performance.

The only problem with light weight wheels is that they are almost always very expensive.

 

basically as above. Less parasitic drag to your power and less unsprung weight.

 

Less unsprung weight is good. There is a larger effect by a few lbs unsprung than there is with 100+ dead weight (seats passengers, ect..)

 

does anyone know how much the oem wheels weigh? and is there a difference between 17's that weigh 25 pounds and 19's that weigh 25 pounds?

 

As a general rule, for wheels of the same manufacturing process, the bigger the wheels, the heavier the wheel weight. But for some expensive light-weight forged wheels, even 19" size is lighter than the conventional cast wheels of 16" size.

Ultimately, it's the total weight of the wheel/tire combo that counts.

 

Enkei RPF-1 =)

 

Enkei RPF-1
19x8 48 offset 5 x 114.3

18.7 lbs. damn! lol the 18's are 17 pounds, im looking at some konigs right now that are 25 pounds

 

Also where that weight is placed makes a difference. Closer to the hub the better (usually happens with smaller wheels)

 

This is one of the reasons I want Volks

 

I want some Dymag wheels with the carbon fiber barrel and the hollow titanium spokes.

 

Got the Dymag confused with these http://www.nobleforums.com/showthread.php?t=104

Dymags have the carbon fiber wheel with forged magnesium spokes.

 

Thank you, guys for the great info on the light weight wheels.
They are expensive, indeed.

 

Everybody wants Volks, except that they are $$$$$.

 

Now I understand. Tires go on the outside-most of the tire/rim combo. So heavy tires are worse in performance than heavy rims, given the same increase in overall weight. That's why with my new summer tires (3 lbs heavier than previous), I can feel the throttle response much slower than before.

So the lesson learned is that always check the tire weight when shopping for tires, and buy only light weight tires.

I'm glad that I bought the 23 lbs Michelin Pilot PA3 instead of the 29 lbs Dunlop M3 for my snow tires last season, despite forum members kept telling me how good the M3's were. The M3's are heavy like hell.