BoostLover

After some extensive searching on Tirerack and Wheelweights, I'm still stuck with the Enkei RFP-01 (18x8, 5-120, +40). Unfortunately, I think they're really ugly and belong on an Evo but not a TL.

Can anyone here please give me guidance as to which 18x8 (or wider, if there are no rubbing issues) wheels are the lightest fitment for the TL?

BoostLover

Make that *lightest; sorry for the spelling error.

Pete2010

Why worry about the weight, I would recommend finding something that you like the looks of. Adding or subtracting a couple lbs of weight for each wheels isn't going to be as noticeable as you think.
What is your price range for wheels? The lighter you go the more expensive you're going to pay. Maybe some forged work wheels?

BoostLover

Unsprung weight reduction may be difficult to feel but the benefit is measurable. Along this line of thinking, the TL has a forged crankshaft but a cast one could have been used instead. The summation of many little things makes for improved performance.

I'd say I'm willing to pay up to $500 per wheel if the wheel is substantially lighter and stronger.

Thanks for the tip on Work wheels.

Pete2010

Yea, I understand the physics behind unstrung weight, it's talked about on here constantly, but I don't think you'd see that much of a measurable difference in either 0-60 or 1/4 times. I think you may see a difference in lap times, but there a higher strength wheel will be better than one that is just "lighter". Other than straight math (which is all I see on forums), for once I'd love to see someone do a real test to see what kind of performance benefit you would get.

I think @$500 a wheel you would probably only be able to find something one or two lbs lighter than stock... you don't want to go too light, then you'll have the problem that the wheels will just spin and you won't get any traction.

I wish the mythbusters would do something on this, would love to see the results, to see how much difference the weight of wheels would make.

Also I think BBS has some 5x120 18's that are pretty light as well. Good luck on the search.

BoostLover

Do you know what the stock wheels weigh, by chance?

And even if you could get wheels that only weighed 1 pound each, you wouldn't just spin your tires. Remember that the rest of the 3800+ pounds of the car is supported by the wheels & tires.

That 3800 lbs, distributed on each wheel, is 950 lbs per wheel. 950 lbs is a lot of normal force on each tire; that normal force, when multiplied by the coefficient of friction of the tire on the road, translates into tremendous frictional force. Spinning the tires from a standstill would not be possible on the stock tires and regular road surface (assuming you didn't just dump the clutch from like 5K RPMs), even with ultra-light wheels/tires.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

I'm looking at one of the wheels below.

OZ Ultraleggera (18x8, 17.6 lb)
Forgestar F14 (18x8.5, 17.6 lb)

Here is the info I posted previously about the stock 18" AWD wheel.

When I weighed my 18" AWD wheel, it came in around 52-53 lbs and that's with the tire obviously. Tirerack lists our factory tire at 27 lbs, so a fairly good guess of the 18" wheel itself would be around 25-26 lbs.

Pete2010

Yea that's true... didn't think of it that way before... But I think from a price-performace perspective, you're going to have to spend some serious $ to get quality lightweight wheels, and at best I would imagine that you're only going to save a 1/10 of a second or so on a 0-60 run.

The "lightweight" thing doesn't make sense to me on a 2 Ton car... You'd be better off ripping out all the tech, HVAC, electrical system, seats, dash, etc... than by shaving 5lbs per wheel off the car.

I'm just saying that you should look for wheels that you like the look of, before you look for lightweight ones... If you find both, awesome!

http://www.nerocam.com/SCC_TAP.asp

These guys dropped 13Lbs at each corner and they were able to drop:

60-0 stop: .1 second faster
1/4 Miles - .3 second faster
0-60 - .5 second faster.

So, you can totally make your car faster with lighter wheels, but you'll make your car much faster by stripping the interior.

By the way - that article above it comedy gold, I hightly suggest reading it

Pete2010

Also, in April when I put my 20's back on, I'll weigh both, and post up some feelings on the difference, I'll weigh the 18's with tires with my 20's with tires to get a feel for the weight difference/total on both. I can't wait to see if I can notice a difference with them... It could be huge.

CleanCL

iTrader: (4)

There's arguments to both sides. If someone has it in their head that they want to get a light weight version of a wheel, why not? The fraction of a second improvement in acceleration, braking, and handling could be the difference on the road in terms of safety. I for one like to improve upon the car's performance. I'm not saying you gain a second in the quarter mile, but I do believe you will experience better handling and better all around performance. Another important aspect to realize is that the tire is very important to the weight. The moral of the story is to research.

BoostLover

Sweetness - thanks!

BoostLover

Right on!

HiroY

I don't worry about the weight since I just fill my tires with helium

Pete2010

^^

BoostLover

Quick question: where did you find the Forgestar F14's weight? I can't seem to find it on their website.

YetiTL

As you can see in my signature, I went with OZ Crono HT 18x8. They weight around 18lbs each. I'm eager to test those too, with the new summer rubber I bought. That will probably be different than the stock wheels with the craptastic A/S tires they came equipped with...

BoostLover

Nevermind - I found it. It's in the test data section.

NJ SHAWD

all that work and the Sentra STILL isn't as fast as the SHAWD!

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

To the OP

Enkei RP03





I had them in 19"s


for the 4G (5x120), you can get

18 x 8.0 + 45
19 x 8.5 + 35
19 x 8.5 +42

My 19 x 8.5 wheels were about 20.xx lbs.
My 19 x 9.5 wheels were about 21.xx lbs

I would image the 18" wheels is around 19lbs

Beautiful and strong wheel IMO

BoostLover

MEGA nice, my friend! Thanks for the find and the info!

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

no sweat. I am very picky about my wheels..... i spent about 6 months looking for my 2nd set. These were the sweetest wheels for the $$ IMO....

super light, classic 5 spoke, amazing finish and strong and BBK clearance << $500 a wheel

prepreludesh

In concerns to putting your car on a diet to increase performance, the easiest solution is to drive your car on the moon.

1/6th the gravity FTW!

YetiTL

These are superb wheels my friend!