Wheel Weight Differences??

Martin D

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Hey, any of you guys out there know the weight differences between:

Stock 17" wheels /Forgeline VR1 19" / HRE 547's 18" ??

I am thinking this might be a good time for me to upgrade my wheels but I really would like to lose as much weight as possible.

Any input would be appreciated.

Regards,
 

Stephen Yap

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The Forgelines supposedly weigh Front wheel 19x10 = 20lbs
- Rear wheel 19x13 = 22lbs according to their website.

I weighed my stock 17s a long time ago and I believe they weigh about the same as the Forgelines which makes the Forgelines light.

Don't know about the HRE's. Check Speedstar which I hear is also very light. The Purner CCWs are probably the lightest because of the small diameter center rims.
 

BigCarrot

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The Forgeline's that I put on my RT weighed a TON less! I had the stock 18's and went to 18" Forgelines. I don't know the exact weights, but there was a very noticable difference.
 

NCVCA

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I have a pair of rear 18" x 13" Forgeline WC-3 wheels with standard (non-titanium) bolts and painted black centers currently unmounted (and for sale).

They weigh 25.4 lbs each.

We all know that in vehicle performance unsprung weight is worth 5 to 6:1 of sprung weight. Meaning taking 10 lbs out of your 4 rims from a performance perspective is worth a reduction of 50-60 pounds inboard of the suspension (say in the passenger seat).

So, minimizing unsprung weight is a great thing. However, even better is minimizing unsprung weight at the furthest distance from the hub. Minimizing the wieght at the extremity of the rotating mass requires less energy (power) to turn and thus faster acceleration (and deceleration) which is like adding horsepower and bigger brakes for free.

This is why I belive the $100 wheel upgrade to titanium bolts would be a great bargain as they reduce the wheel weight by "only" 1-1.5 pounds it is at the near maximum distance from the hub thus providing the most reduction in weight at the very point in which you want to reduce weight the most.

I have not been able to find a reliable / repeatable method of testing rotating mass reletive to centrifugal acceleration, but would love to learn more about it or testing proceedures that are known to be scientifically credible.

Jeff
 

lleone

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Jeff,

I'm not following you. Please explain about the Ti bolts. Aren't they nearest the hub and not farthest (ie the leading edge of tred on the tire?

Lou
 

NCVCA

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Lou,

Forgeline sells the rims with standard (I assume steel) bolts. Anyone can spec or order after the fact Ti bolts. These are the bolts that hold the three pieces of the three piece wheel together.

They are away from the hub (the hub centers are solid alum) toward the tire edge.

What I was trying to explain in the post is removing weight from wheels is great and removing weight from wheels further from the center is best.

For example, if you can remove 1 lb per wheel and have a choice of removing it from the center of the hub (say by grinding or a different design) or removing 1 lb per wheel at the outside of the rims by changing bolt composition, then changing the bolts would be preferable even though it's 1 lb of unsprung weight in both examples due to the incremental energy required to accelerate mass further from the hub.
 

lleone

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Jeff,

Ah. Thanks. I grock the dynamics of rotational mass and all. I read "wheel hub" and thought "part of the car where the wheel attaches" as opposed to part of rim assembly. I agree with you that a 1 pound savings on a 25 pound wheel is a good thing. Besides being a pound, look at it as 4%.

Lou
 

opticzo6

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You are right I will need the nitrous if you are on the nitrous, if you are caught out with no nitrous you will see nothing but taillights I assure you. You will be better off running on the 200 shot it will make things closer. So are you ever going to get off you butt and call man?? Hows business?????? :laugh:
 

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