NJ SHAWD

I am looking at a a set of OZ Super Leggeras in 18" because of the weight. They are 18.5 lbs per wheel saving me 9.5 lbs per wheel over stock on my 4G TL. I am not crazy about the style, and I wanted to run with a set of 20", but the idea of better performance has me thinking. Is there really that much difference in 10lbs per wheel? There seems to be allot of controversy over the topic, and I was hoping to get some facts here.

Blazin Si

It's hard to determine the total weight savings (if any) unless you know the weight of the tire as well. If you google search "unsprung weight", there's a really good archived thread on H-T with lots of technical info. It's in the Roadrace/Autocross forum.

fsttyms1

It makes a big difference. My old prelude that i had light weight wheels on there was a HUGE difference in handling when i used them over the stock wheels when auto-xing and lapping days. Even in normal driving i felt a difference.

csmeance

Any sort of sprung weight savings is a good one, esp with wheels. For every 1 pound you cut off sprung weight, it's like loosing 3 pounds of static weight. So if you cut off 40 pounds from your rims, you essentially are loosing 120 pounds of static weight from the car.

NJ SHAWD

Same tires, so the weight loss is a true 9.5 lbs per wheel. We're talking about a stock AWD 4G. Will there be any real differential?

TheMirror

That's the best way to look at it, IMHO. You will find other claims out there that state every lb. of unsprung weight = however much horsepower gained, but I've never found those statements to bear out in the real world.

I'm a lightweight wheel devotee, and your 9.5 lbs. per wheel is definitely something you will feel. The car will accelerate slightly better, turn-in will be sharper, and it should ride better in theory.

I took about 5 lbs. off of every corner of my TSX with some Gram Lights, and that was a difference I could only slightly feel. With nearly double that, you're going to notice.

Rockstar21

iTrader: (1)

nearly -40lbs of wheels, you'll feel that for sure..

Blazin Si

I always believed that a tire with less side wall would be lighter, but it turns out that a lot of low profile tires are heavier due to the reenforced steel banding that gives them their stiffness. I noticed this when I switched from a 205/50/15 Nitto NT450 to a 205/40/16 Falken Azenis 615. These were two different brands of tires. One being more of a street summer tire, while the other was much more track oriented.

You might actually see more than 9.5 lbs of weight savings with the 17's. A larger heavier wheel and tire will always be harder to turn, stop and accelerate. I really can't comment much more on that. When I changed to a heavier wheel and tire combo, I also removed the power steering and jumped from about 140whp to 197whp with a much more sticky tire.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Funny this thread came up. I've been scoping out lightweight 17's to replace my decently lightweight 18's simply for this reason. Plus the extra sidewall height should lessen the harshness of road imperfections.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I've been thinking of getting a set of ultra lightweight 17 or 18's as well.. for performance reasons.. my stock rims look great but it weights about 27 lbs each.. so..

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

Enkei's dude. RPF1. Sure a lot of people have them, but for the price and the quality, they are great. Very happy with mine thus far. Only thing is I wish I had gone with the 16's like I originally was going to go with or maybe even the 15's. The ride is quite harsh with low profile tires at times on the crappy LA freeways.

majin ssj eric

I lean more towards appearance than weight myself. My stock 19's are actually pretty light for oem but I would love a set of 20's even with the weight penalty just for the better look....

TheMirror

And that's just the thing; you can go a little bit the other way and still retain most of the stock characteristics.

TheMirror

No doubt. When you see a street wheel suddenly being used on numerous race cars, you're on to something.

RPF-1's are still more or less the reference standard going on half a decade now for the combination of strength, light weight, range of fitments AND price.

NJ SHAWD

To clarify further, I can pick up these wheels and tires for under $1000, and they are almost rand new. The two negatives are the lack of look and the tires on them are about 4% smaller in diameter than oem. I can always swap over my factory tires If I like them, but 4% isn't such a big deal. These are the wheels:

1StGenCL

is performance really that important on a car like the TL? I can't speak for if you will notice the difference due to weight but I know the new TL needs a big wheel. Everything I see on it looks so tiny

NJ SHAWD

The SHAWD is a pretty decent performing car on its own, but it's fat. Over 4000 lbs fat. This 18" setup is almost the same as the stock in size, just lighter.

majin ssj eric

I agree. The TL looks like it needs at least 20's just to look decent....

Pete2010

+1000, but I'm biased

I just put my summers on and the weight difference going from stock 18's with winter tires to 20's with falken 452's was like 2.8lbs more per corner. I can tell you that in normal (and slightly aggressive) city driving I don't notice the car any slower at all. In fact it handles better on turns and etc, due to the better summer rubber and stiffer sidewall than the winters - The H&R Springs probably help also.

10lbs, you'll definitely feel a difference, but is the look going to be worth it to you? That's the real question to ask. Also, remember that the TL is a fat bitch already, so from a percentage weight loss, it may not be as significant as on a smaller "sports" car.

Obligatory pic of 20's on a 4G

charliemike

17s on a 4G TL would be an aesthetic disaster.

The side profile of the 4G is not conducive to small wheels IMO.

I'd go with the 19" Superleggeras.

NJ SHAWD

These are not 17", they are 18" x 8" (the same setup) as I have now with the stock 18"

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

do it man. you will love the difference in handling!

for me, performance>>>appearance

but do you have a set of coilovers on your car? i would drop the car a little.

1StGenCL

is this why you have 6K HIDs in both lights and fogs

NJ SHAWD

No coilovers available, but there are lowering springs

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I got it for my car's lighting performance..

Halogen yellow lights are so poor in terms of lighting output.. so.. it's something that had to be changed right when i drove my car out of the lot.

ooh.. got it. I would wait for some good set of coilovers to come out and drop the car with it.. it will not only improve the performance of your car, but also make your car look even with 18's lightweight rims.

1StGenCL

I am saying this in good fun but applying your logic of the lightest wheels to the car's lighting, you would have gone with 4300K for the best performance

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

^ True!

I dont know why but I always like 6000K better than 4300K.

1StGenCL

Just messing with you but trying to say there is always a compromise. 6K def. looks better and while you loose some performance, still increased over halogen. He will save some weight but is it worth the decreased looks?

I know they are the same size as the stock wheels but the stock 18s look small to start and those thin spokes are going to make the aftermarket wheels look even smaller IMO. Maybe cut some weight from stock but go with a 19 and compromise so you don't kill the looks of the car. Then again, you have a 4G so maybe looks aren't important, I kid

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Pete2010

Yea, right now all we have in the 4G is H&R for the AWD. You can see the photos above, it's not a very aggressive drop at all. Very mild, but kills most of the wheel well gap. I say +1 on the drop, if you go with those lightweight 18's and drop it, it will look way better, otherwise it will look like tiny wheels on the big ass 4G.

Costco

Typically with aftermarket wheels you have to go an inch larger in size or more because if you get the same size aftermarket wheels and tires, they will look a bit smaller than the OE wheels. Why this is, I'm not exactly sure..... but it's something I've noticed a lot

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Just drop the car a little bit. This will help you tremendously with that 18's OZ.