I currently have 20x8.5 and 20x10 TSW Snetterton wheels on my car. The rears weighed 63lbs on my bathroom scale. Falken says my tire weighs 30lbs so that would mean my wheel weighs about 33lbs.

Now...I've been thinking lately about how much of a gain in acceleration would I get if I were to install some TSW Nurburgring wheels ( 19x8.5 and 19x10.5 ) which, from what I read on other forums, weigh about 23lbs. The same falken tire on the 19 wheel would weigh 28lbs. This would make it a total of 51lbs which is 12lbs less than what I have now.

Would those 12lbs be worth it considering that even if I sell my current wheels I'd still lose about $500-$800?

 

Another thing is that I'm thinking of either changing my wheels, or upgrading my Vortech impeller to the 928 impeller. Which would give me a bigger gain?

 

Shedding a total of 48 pounds of rotating mass? My guess is you'll see an increase of a couple mpg, not sure if you'd feel any difference though. If wheel weight is an issue why not go with 18s?

 

18's just looks too small...my oem 18's looked TINY.

I just want to make my car faster...lol.

 

rotational inertia and physics.

It's not just a good idea, it's the law.

 

Meh I would not bother unless your racing the car. I prefer 17's or 18's and think the larger rims look silly but its all in the eye of the beholder.

 

If you drag race or track otherwise check out the MB motoring wheels. They have several lightweight and inexpensive wheels... "weapn, battle, competetion" to name a few.

Now if you just want a lighter street wheel, but want the look of a larger wheel, then you'll have to spend a bit more. The Enkei RPF1 comes in 19" applications and is very lightweight. One of the least expensive in it's category.

 

on a manual, i felt a big power loss with just run flat tires (they are heavy). You can tell big time when getting heavier wheels. On an auto, i felt like it wasn't too bad though.

 

Meh, it's been beaten to death:

https://my350z.com/forum/wheels-and-...-a-wheels.html

 

I've felt a difference on my Integra going from a 22 lb wheel to a 16 lb wheel, ever since weight in the wheels has been a huge consideration. Given your power levels will more than likely help to mask the losses I beleive the question is whether you really want to optimize the setup. If so, go lighter, 48+ lbs at that point on the car will make some difference. If you're more into the looks of the car stay with them... you have good output.

 

My track wheels are heavier than my street wheels and YES i can tell a difference. Thats why i'm waiting for my new track (RPF1) to come in the mail.

 

Given my 3 sets, I'm certainly a believer as well. Best bang-for-buck wheel out there.

 

RPF1's on the way... Man...I wanted a set of those so bad when I bought mine, but they were on a 2 month wait (bad economic conditions for the distributors/manufacters I guess). I'm definitely gonna miss the NV round of RTA but I'll see them in Fontana if you come out.

 

i try to balance it out looks and performance.

i really do think 19's are great fit for the 350z, 20's are getting too big imho unless you have some crazy widebody setup or if you just wanna be hellgh3y errr i mean flush. just make sure you get a set that is light weight like the RPF1's, Volk TE/CE's, and not sure which ones but i know advan makes some light weight 19's as well.

 

I'll be there. Looking forward to the last race of the year, then i get to tear the motor out and the fun begins.

 

I do not see your acceleration listed: https://my350z.com/forum/drag/233840...ons-stock.html

 

I haven't taken my car to the track with my setup.

Has anyone actually TESTED light vs. heavy wheels on a dyno or on the track? I've searched around but can't find anything concrete. Just people saying it FEELS better...like intakes do...lol.

 

I've seen some cars lose 5-8 horses at the wheels, and .250-.500 second in the quarter mile.

 

+1
People with several sets of wheels that swap them out on a weekly basis can attest to the benefits of wheels on a diet.

I have a boosted 07' Si that was dynoed back in 07'- IIRC I lost about 8~9 whp switching from lightweight 14 lb 17s to heavier 23lb Work VS-SS 18s. It wasn't peak, it was throughout the bandwidth. Torque curve was affected as well.

Heavy wheels also adversely affects suspension not just power. There's a Turbo or Superstreet article floating around somewhere.

Edit: Several articles out there on this topic.



http://www.caranddriver.com/features...sted-tech_dept

http://www.carcraft.com/projectbuild...son/index.html

 

Those articles only made me think it might not be worth it. The Rabbit had HUGE wheels installed when compared to the oem ones and they weighed an additional 14 lbs each and the acceleration was only affected by .2 and 2mph.

The Chevelle had 15lbs removed from each rear wheels and a whopping 27lbs removed from each front wheel and it only did .1@1mph better.

Not exactly what I was hoping for. I'm still thinking about it though.

It's either this or the 928M impeller for my Vortech.