do wheel weights matter that much?
do wheel weights matter that much?
A lot of people would pay a lot more just to get wheels that are a few lbs lighter than ordinary ones. Is it really worth it? Is a few lbs difference really that noticable? I mean most of the times the rims make up less than 50% of the wheel weight. The rest is gonna be on tires. The few lbs difference on the lighter wheel wont make that much of a difference now if u get meatier tires as compared to heavier wheels with skinnier tires would it? Can someone enlighten me here?
if your building a car for strip use you generally want a rim that is light as possible however strong as possible. The lighter the rim the less weight your car has to push, plus the less weight your engine has to turn to get those thing spinning, same idea as a lighter driveshaft or flywheel. The difference between racing rims such as Volks or even 5Zigen or is they are considerablly lighter then most "showy" or stock rims and in many cases they look better. So why not spend the extra on some light rims if it will increase the performance of the car? I don't know of any tests done to compare heavier rims to lighter but I would assume the lighters would win.
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barrigas14
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yes wheel wieght is going to be a big difference.
(this is the same size rim and width and tire and what not)take a 16lbs rim and mate it with 10lbs tire = 26lbsnow a 22lbs rim and mate it with a 10lbs tire = 32lbs
now that all means is that the suspension is going to react differently in rebound and even the reaction time of the suspension. unsprung wieght is one of those things that wheel manufactors and driving teams try to conquer. lighter the better i believe.
(this is the same size rim and width and tire and what not)take a 16lbs rim and mate it with 10lbs tire = 26lbsnow a 22lbs rim and mate it with a 10lbs tire = 32lbs
now that all means is that the suspension is going to react differently in rebound and even the reaction time of the suspension. unsprung wieght is one of those things that wheel manufactors and driving teams try to conquer. lighter the better i believe.
"The lighter the rim the less weight your car has to push, plus the less weight your engine has to turn to get those thing spinning, same idea as a lighter driveshaft or flywheel."
thats not the reason you buy lighter rims dude. the weight of the wheel will have minimal effect(if any) on power to the ground.
it DOES however decrease unsprung weight, which in the popularly accepted method 1lb of unsprung weigh=4lbs of sprung weight, allowing your suspenion to work better, and thusly making the car more agile.
this is the same reason cars run very light weight suspension parts if possible(think titanium and c/f controll arms in f-1.)
they dont matter "that much", just like taking out 15 lbs of insulation on a car wont matter "that much", but when you start adding things up, it can create quite a difference.-chet
thats not the reason you buy lighter rims dude. the weight of the wheel will have minimal effect(if any) on power to the ground.
it DOES however decrease unsprung weight, which in the popularly accepted method 1lb of unsprung weigh=4lbs of sprung weight, allowing your suspenion to work better, and thusly making the car more agile.
this is the same reason cars run very light weight suspension parts if possible(think titanium and c/f controll arms in f-1.)
they dont matter "that much", just like taking out 15 lbs of insulation on a car wont matter "that much", but when you start adding things up, it can create quite a difference.-chet
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Nismo_Freak
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Exar-Kun wrote:"The lighter the rim the less weight your car has to push, plus the less weight your engine has to turn to get those thing spinning, same idea as a lighter driveshaft or flywheel."
thats not the reason you buy lighter rims dude. the weight of the wheel will have minimal effect(if any) on power to the ground.
it DOES however decrease unsprung weight, which in the popularly accepted method 1lb of unsprung weigh=4lbs of sprung weight, allowing your suspenion to work better, and thusly making the car more agile.
this is the same reason cars run very light weight suspension parts if possible(think titanium and c/f controll arms in f-1.)
they dont matter "that much", just like taking out 15 lbs of insulation on a car wont matter "that much", but when you start adding things up, it can create quite a difference.-chet
I'm thinking along the lines of the 4x4 scene where if you have huge heavy tires and gearing or and an engine that can't support them you'll have trouble. So why would that not apply to sports cars? I understand the unsprung weight idea. So your telling me that a set of 20in chrome rims will be just as easy to spin as 16in gramlites? No, it's more weight for the engine. Seem like it makes sense....maybe I'd wrong.
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Nismo_Freak
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- Car: 89 Nissan 240SX
Your right, the larger diameter wheel will take more force to spin than the smaller one, due to weight and the actual geometry the force is applied with.
However what Chet was saying is that the effect of additional weight that the engine has to rotate is minimal compared to the reduction of unsprung weight... or so it seems.
In all fairness I think we all can agree, the lighter you can get your choice set of wheels the better. The question of is 1lb. less per wheel really worth all the effort remains a question someone should ask themselves. Just how far do you want to go.
I'm getting 9.5" wide rears with a set of 275s... the main reason for getting that is because I want them (and they weigh 15.2 lbs. each
), not because it's gonna give me .253505935 seconds advantage on the race track.
However what Chet was saying is that the effect of additional weight that the engine has to rotate is minimal compared to the reduction of unsprung weight... or so it seems.
In all fairness I think we all can agree, the lighter you can get your choice set of wheels the better. The question of is 1lb. less per wheel really worth all the effort remains a question someone should ask themselves. Just how far do you want to go.
I'm getting 9.5" wide rears with a set of 275s... the main reason for getting that is because I want them (and they weigh 15.2 lbs. each
), not because it's gonna give me .253505935 seconds advantage on the race track.[quote=" Exar-Kun [Bit DOES however decrease unsprung weight, which in the popularly accepted method 1lb of unsprung weigh=4lbs of sprung weight, allowing your suspenion to work better, and thusly making the car more agile.
this is the same reason cars run very light weight suspension parts if possible(think titanium and c/f controll arms in f-1.)
-chet [/quote]
can someone please just quicly explain to me this sprung and unsprung weight thing, i'm kinda confuzed, thnx
this is the same reason cars run very light weight suspension parts if possible(think titanium and c/f controll arms in f-1.)
-chet [/quote]
can someone please just quicly explain to me this sprung and unsprung weight thing, i'm kinda confuzed, thnx
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Nismo_Freak
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Sprung weight is absorbed by the suspension to some extent... therefore not 100% of the weight is distributed at all times to the tire.
However unsprung weight is just weight, there is no dampening force so it's only directional force is the grip of the tire.
Likewise the unsprung weight adds to the overall suspension's intertia which means higher the unsprung weight, the less responsive the suspension is and the "heavier" the feel in the steering. It also means that traveling over bumps the tire loses contact with the road easier due to the increased force the unsprung weight exerts in the suspension.
Thats why 1 lb. of unsprung weight is equal to ~ 4 lbs. of sprung weight.
However unsprung weight is just weight, there is no dampening force so it's only directional force is the grip of the tire.
Likewise the unsprung weight adds to the overall suspension's intertia which means higher the unsprung weight, the less responsive the suspension is and the "heavier" the feel in the steering. It also means that traveling over bumps the tire loses contact with the road easier due to the increased force the unsprung weight exerts in the suspension.
Thats why 1 lb. of unsprung weight is equal to ~ 4 lbs. of sprung weight.
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Nismo_Freak
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