Does the weight of wheels matter?

[99GTT]

Hi guys,

As per post title, does the weight of the wheels have much bearing on performance? I would suppose it does since the lighter the wheel the more 000's the price tends to have...
Is it worth spending more money on lighter wheels?
Cheers!

[SarcasticOne]

depends if you're going to the track/drags
lighter wheels mean less force is required to get them moving

[lup15]

its all about unsprung weight. Less unsprung weight means the suspension works less to control the unsprung weight, effectively means your car will handle better. it also assists in helping acceleration as the rotating mass is less.

so the key termshere you should google is 'unsprung weight ' and 'rotating mass'

[kmh001]

Wheel mass affects several things incuding unsprung weight, which means the suspension has to work harder when the wheels are heavy. It also takes hp (from the engine) to get the wheels turning and to accelerate them and it takes hp (from the brakes) to slow them down again. Lighter wheels will improve all these things. They may or may not make a measurable difference to performance, however they will almost certainly make a difference to how the car feels to the driver. It will feel more responsive and will handle bumps better. The down side is that light weight wheels have a significantly greater risk of damage, particularly from pot holes. That's why you generally only see them used at the race track.

There's another risk that not many people consider. Mag wheels got their name from the fact that in the early days they were manufactured from magnesium which is lighter than the aluminium alloys. Some of the lightest wheels are still magnesium or an alloy of magnesium and if you have a prang and there is a fire, the magnesium will burn intensely.

---------- Post added at 05:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:19 PM ----------

PS I type really slow.

[bd581]

Less weight of the car, less weight the engines power has to turn, less weight the suspension has to support and lift.
Less weight = everything works more efficiently.

Basically no negatives for light wheels.

But are they worth spending big money on for a normal road car?
No, not really.
Well not enough gain to warrent the extra money in my opinion.
At least not for the average driver

[LittleredMPS]

I have what you would consider super light wheels.

They do make a small difference in getting off the line and with bumps but I wouldnt really consider it enough of a difference to warrant the insane amount of money super lights cost.

[rogwick]

The funds you put aside for light rims means you could get performance mods, such as new turbo, IC, intake, exhaust etc which will make more difference and feel in terms of power and acceleration.

Unless you got the coin to do both performance mods and lighter rims

[bd581]

Simply put, poor value for money for majority of people.
Better gains in performance can be found elsewhere for the money.

[Logan]

As many have said its all about the rotational mass. Same applies for road bikes etc.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

[luke 3mps]

Lighter wheels= less brake fade,more acceleration,better cornering,better fuel ecc..

Think of it this way u hit a bump the wheel shoots up, its easier to stop something lighter? The heavier it is the firther it travels up ssoo less contact with the road. if the wheels not making contact with the road how can it get traction? the spring than returns the wheel to the road, a heavier wheel moves slower takes longer for the spring to push the wheel back down to make contact with the road..

Roll a bike wheel down a hill try stop it than try stopping a truck wheel.. same applies to brakes and acceleration..