Correction "Weight of the Wheel"

Website · by **solrchrgd** » Wed May 05, 2004 2:16 pm

I just bought some new Centerline Forged Wheels. I use to have some Enkei's RP08 17X7's. The Centerline wheel is 10lbs lighter than the Enkei's. How much better 1/4 mile times do you think I will see with this weight reduction??

I noticed a difference in the ride of the car, definitely not as rough. It seems to accelerate a bit faster too. I would think 10 lbs of rotating mass has to make a noticable difference. I didn't do well in Physics so I'm not 100% certain.

Bryan

by **geminimouse** » Wed May 05, 2004 3:53 pm

You know wheel weights are used to balance the wheels...

by **Jon11582** » Wed May 05, 2004 4:30 pm

I think he means wheel weights as the weight of the wheels, not those little things that hold on to your wheels for dear life, balancing your ride.

The wheels should spin easier, since they weigh less. As far as faster quarters...gotta ask someone else about it, but Im not sure how much difference it would make. Should be some noticible reduction with 40lbs less of unsprung weight.

by **thealkimo** » Wed May 05, 2004 5:08 pm

I believe the ratio is appx. 1:10.

For every lb. of weight gained/lost the rotational mass increases/decreases by 10 times that weight.

Correct me if I'm wrong :wink:

by **Fletch** » Thu May 06, 2004 4:28 pm

My buddy said he came across an extensive thread on the vwvortex forum about wheel weight and performance. Supposedly, some guy did the math and it worked out pretty close to 1:2. That is, 1lb of unsprung weight is about 2lbs of dead weight in the car. I think that's assuming you don't do a +1 or +2 which will put the weight farther from the center of rotation.

When my car was NA and I switched from stock 16's to 27lb 18's, I lost 0.3 sec in 0-60 in similar test conditions so wheel weight is significant. Now with the 5.5psi pulley, it doesn't really matter that much because you basically light them up thru 1st gear under WOT anyway.

by **Jon11582** » Thu May 06, 2004 7:43 pm

Dont put it all to the weight. If your plus sizing, the diameter also matters. At the same weight, a smaller wheel should be easier to spin up, since the wieght is distributed more to the middle of the wheel. I think it was called rotational inertia in physics, dont remember too well.

Correct me if im wrong, but I think the heaviest part of the wheel is the part that touches the tire, and that part is closer to the middle in a smaller wheel than in a bigger one.

by **AzN_DrAgoN48** » Thu May 06, 2004 7:49 pm

anyone know the weight of the stock 16"s?

by **AzN_DrAgoN48** » Sat May 08, 2004 12:06 pm

would 20 lbs make much of a difference in performancee from stock 16s?

Correction "Weight of the Wheel"

Correction "Weight of the Wheel"

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