lightweight wheels

meifert
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lightweight wheels

Postby meifert » Mon Jan 20, 2014 5:33 pm

I am looking at some wheels. I want light and good looking. I have narrowed it down to Gram Light 57Vs or Apache 2s. The Gram Lights are 12.5 pounds but I cant find an actual weight for the Apache 2s. I like the old school look but I want performance.
1984 Corolla SR5.....banana on wheels
Buddy Club Spec 2 Over axle, T3 Test Pipe, T3 Bomber Bar, T3 Ultimate Rear Brace, Enkei Apache 2 wheels, (Weber carb and Cam not installed)

Cheap, good or fast.....pick two.

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carbd7age
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby carbd7age » Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:04 pm

Google Grassroots Motorsports amd some key words like lightweight or Miata. There was a bunch of long articles and debates about the need for lightweight wheels. Unless you are in the top 0.01% of your particular motorsport, the light wheels make a tiny difference. If you drive on the street with street suspension, you will never notice a difference between a 12lb wheel and a 15lb wheel.
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meifert
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby meifert » Mon Jan 20, 2014 11:52 pm

I read those. They werent testing good wheels. They were using Kosei wheels. I broke/bent/twisted 10 rear sets on my Mustang race car. Not drag racing, open track events.


However, I drive about 1500 miles a month and am thinking more about fuel mileage. These cars are light already, i want to knock off 150 pounds.
1984 Corolla SR5.....banana on wheels
Buddy Club Spec 2 Over axle, T3 Test Pipe, T3 Bomber Bar, T3 Ultimate Rear Brace, Enkei Apache 2 wheels, (Weber carb and Cam not installed)

Cheap, good or fast.....pick two.

rumsawatti
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby rumsawatti » Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:39 am

I agree with Eric, I really dont think its that big of a deal, probably more effective to dump your backseats, entire interior, or spare tire(both ways) to lose a few pounds then look for light weight wheels. But whatever floats your boat.

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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby rumsawatti » Tue Jan 21, 2014 6:40 am

BTW: you really want to lose 150lbs, if you haven't already, lose the front and rear usdm bumpers. Those bumpers alone seem to weigh 1,000lbs each.

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carbd7age
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby carbd7age » Tue Jan 21, 2014 2:22 pm

The quality of the test wheels has no bearing on the focus of the test. The test was whether a lightweight wheel os faster aroubd the track than a heavier wheel. The wheel brand and quality is not important at all. Only the wheels' weight is important in the tests. The test easily could have been forged legit wheels vs replica cast wheels as long as the weights were different.

So OP: buy whatever wheels you like the look of better.
Eric'sFreeAE86 from the old site
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meifert
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby meifert » Tue Jan 21, 2014 2:55 pm

A lightweight cheap cast wheel will flex under load while a forged wheel wont. Wheel flex is bad. However, I like voth the 57v and Apache 2 the same, I just want to know which one is lighter and how much lighter.
1984 Corolla SR5.....banana on wheels
Buddy Club Spec 2 Over axle, T3 Test Pipe, T3 Bomber Bar, T3 Ultimate Rear Brace, Enkei Apache 2 wheels, (Weber carb and Cam not installed)

Cheap, good or fast.....pick two.

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carbd7age
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby carbd7age » Tue Jan 21, 2014 3:20 pm

How much wheel flex have you noticed driving on the street? I'm not trying to start to dead horse argument about cast vs forged and legit vs rep. My SC400 has 19" forged Volk wheels and my AE86 has SSR cast and Hayashi cast wheels at different times and I couldn't tell you from driving the car which was who. Heck the only way I know these are forged is cuz it says on the lip lol. Juss sayin.
Eric'sFreeAE86 from the old site
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meifert
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby meifert » Thu Jan 30, 2014 6:56 pm

You wont notice a wheel flexing, but it will show in your lap times. Its like if youn roll your window down and put your fingetips where the door meets the roof. You can feel the car flexing. You would never know unless you did this, but its there and it affects lap times.



On another note, will a 16x8 0 offset with a 205/50/16 tire fit the rear of these cars? I ask because I know a guy selling a staggered set of wheels 15x8 0 front with 205/50/15 and 16x8 rear with 205/50/16.
1984 Corolla SR5.....banana on wheels
Buddy Club Spec 2 Over axle, T3 Test Pipe, T3 Bomber Bar, T3 Ultimate Rear Brace, Enkei Apache 2 wheels, (Weber carb and Cam not installed)

Cheap, good or fast.....pick two.

Jimmee1990
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby Jimmee1990 » Thu Jan 30, 2014 10:51 pm

16x8 0 offset with a 205/50 won't fit without flaring the guards, 205/50 on a 15x8 rubs even with lightly flared guards with the sills 90mm off the road for example on my own car. Unless your running the suspension fairly high?

meifert
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby meifert » Thu Jan 30, 2014 11:32 pm

Jimmee1990 wrote:16x8 0 offset with a 205/50 won't fit without flaring the guards, 205/50 on a 15x8 rubs even with lightly flared guards with the sills 90mm off the road for example on my own car. Unless your running the suspension fairly high?




Ok. I didnt think they would but for the price I had to ask.
1984 Corolla SR5.....banana on wheels
Buddy Club Spec 2 Over axle, T3 Test Pipe, T3 Bomber Bar, T3 Ultimate Rear Brace, Enkei Apache 2 wheels, (Weber carb and Cam not installed)

Cheap, good or fast.....pick two.

overspool
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby overspool » Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:01 am

I am doing a fuel economy build on my corolla... lightweight wheels, flywheel, pulleys, carbon fiber driveshaft, etc. It won't be done for about a year, but I'm shooting for 50+ mpg. Wheels make a huge difference in fuel economy.

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oldeskewltoy
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby oldeskewltoy » Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:35 pm

overspool wrote:I am doing a fuel economy build on my corolla... lightweight wheels, flywheel, pulleys, carbon fiber driveshaft, etc. It won't be done for about a year, but I'm shooting for 50+ mpg. Wheels make a huge difference in fuel economy.



none of that makes as big a difference as a well built, properly tuned engine.... and proper gearing....

wheels and lightening... you may make up an additional 5% or so.... a engine even slightly out of tune... and you are talking losses (mpg) of well over 10%... so as George Carlin said...

Don't sweat the petty things... and don't pet the sweaty things.... :lol:
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Building a great engine takes knowing the end... before you begin :ugeek:

Enjoy Life... its the only one you get!

meifert
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby meifert » Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:26 pm

overspool wrote:I am doing a fuel economy build on my corolla... lightweight wheels, flywheel, pullBjorneys, carbon fiber driveshaft, etc. It won't be done for about a year, but I'm shooting for 50+ mpg. Wheels make a huge difference in fuel economy.


You would do better with the new Falken tires made for fuel economy. Every little bit does help though
1984 Corolla SR5.....banana on wheels
Buddy Club Spec 2 Over axle, T3 Test Pipe, T3 Bomber Bar, T3 Ultimate Rear Brace, Enkei Apache 2 wheels, (Weber carb and Cam not installed)

Cheap, good or fast.....pick two.

overspool
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Re: lightweight wheels

Postby overspool » Mon Feb 03, 2014 12:06 am

oldskewltoy- The engine platform that I will be using will be solid, and I agree that is very important, you are underestimating how much rotational mass plays a roll in fuel economy. Flywheel, pulleys, driveshaft, and wheels, etc.

On my 08 WRX I picked up a consistent 5mpg going from the stock wheels to a set of wheels that were around 5 lbs lighter per wheel. So what is that, a total of 20lbs lighter on rotational mass, and it added 5mpg over stock (~23mpg). That seems to be more than a 5% change to me. I have personal data to back up my theories, but I'm not a published scientist or anything. I'm just an automotive student, studying alternative fuels, advanced vehicle systems, and fuel economy engineering. Once I finish my fuel economy build, I guess I'll find out for sure how much each part affected fuel economy (my findings will then be published). Until then, I guess I'll leave it to the armchair engineers.

meifert- there are several companies that sell low rolling resistance tires. They are definitely on the list of things for my build.