Real Gains of Lighter Wheels?

[Shifting_Gears]

It’s interesting there would be a difference on the dyno. Obviously wheels don’t reduce the actual power the engine produces, but it sounds like it correlates with the parasitic loss of the drivetrain.

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[Deleted member 35644]

If you've ever noticed that a fan with plastic blades gets up to speed quicker than a fan with metal blades, that pretty much explains the phenomenon on the dyno.

I've always read that lighter wheels make the most difference in how quickly the suspension can absorb, and rebound. Less weight for the spring (rebound) and shock (control) to overcome correlates to better recovery times over bumps and holes.

My concern with light wheels has always been resilience. I have no first-hand experience with them, but don't you have to be pretty careful about what you drive over? I can't imagine navigating some of the streets in Dallas with wheels that aren't up to the task.

 

[Grintch]

I have never broken a wheel and I CURENTLY own 9 sets of aftermarket wheels, many of which have seen road course use.

But I suspect strength and the avoidance of warrenty claims is why stock wheels are usually super heavy. But if that is a concern for you many aftermarket wheels have a lifetime structural warrenty.

 

[Coyote Red]

I saved 7 lbs. a corner from base split five spokes to SVE GT 7's and "feel" the difference. 18x9 to 19x10". Next is driveshaft. I almost did windshield w/OpticArmor.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

I saved 7 lbs. a corner from base split five spokes to SVE GT 7's and "feel" the difference. 18x9 to 19x10". Next is driveshaft. I almost did windshield w/OpticArmor.

Regarding the driveshaft: I wanted to buy the Steeda '18 driveshaft because at first glance I thought it was 19 lbs lighter than the factory driveshaft without added NVH, but then I looked closer and that is only for the M6. I have the A10; the Steeda A10 driveshaft is only 8 lbs lighter than factory, so it was a no go for me for $800.

I've seen that reducing 1 lbs of driveshaft weight is like removing 2.7 lbs of static weight from the car when it comes to acceleration and braking, due to it's high rotational speeds (spin much faster than the wheels).

19 lbs x 2.7 = 51.3 lbs (M6)
8 lbs x 2.7 = 21.6 lbs (A10)

I also just purchased the SVE R350 wheels (9 lbs ligther each than factory PP1 wheels), and I'm installing the Borla S type catback, which is 20 lbs lighter than the factory catback. Combining the wheels, catback, and driveshaft all at the same time would make for a nice improvement in feel and acceleration, but I just couldn't spend $800 to reduce 8 lbs of rotational mass.

 

[Matti777]

According to one of the online calculators losing 100 lb results in a theoretical drop of 0.1 second in the 1/4 mile.

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