tegunulgener 84 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 Hi everyone. I've got an interesting question. What is the ideal weight range of an 18" alloy wheel for our cars? I am trying to find an answer but no luck. I know lighter is better but I just cannot stop thinking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 It depends upon width of course, wider is heavier. An ideal weight is as light as possible. You'll do well to get under 8kg though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 Mine are 18x8.5 and quoted at 23lbs, or just over 10kg. That's a reasonable weight for the size and width. Getting down towards 9kg or under at this size would be expensive, but you could quite easily achieve that at 18x7 or 18x7.5. As Lauren said, width is a big factor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rich 378 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 If money is no object a set of TWS T66-Fs will give you more or less the lightest wheel money can buy. 6.7 kg for 18x8s! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 2 minutes ago, Rich said: If money is no object a set of TWS T66-Fs will give you more or less the lightest wheel money can buy. 6.7 kg for 18x8s! Aren't they something like £600 each? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rich 378 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 Yeah about that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ztox 230 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 Yea those things are mad, 7.17Kg for 18 x 9.5 it says on their site Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ade 517 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 OZ Superforgiata 19x8.5s are 7.3kg and cost £1700 per wheel! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 I mean, if you want to go extreme, just go with Ese Carbon E1's. 19x9's are 5.8kg. They're about £12,000, but still. 2 smudge and Mark-in-Stoke reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smudge 1020 Report post Posted November 11, 2016 My WedSports TC105N's are 18x9.5 and only 8kg each Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Varelco 211 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 The reason you are struggling for an answer is because your question is a bit vague. There isn't really an ideal range as such, it's personally preference. Depending on how concerned you are, just aim to keep it in line with the stock wheel weight (9.1kg) and consider anything lighter as a bonus. 1 KevinA reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 Yep, think if you can get no more than the relatively heavy stock wheels, then you'll be fine, but if you see wheels that are 10kg and more, probably best avoided. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 2 hours ago, Lauren said: Yep, think if you can get no more than the relatively heavy stock wheels, then you'll be fine, but if you see wheels that are 10kg and more, probably best avoided. You can't say wheels over 10kg should be avoided, because he's not said what size he wants. A wheel that's an inch bigger diameter and 2 inches wider than stock, for example, is very rarely going to be lighter than stock. It doesn't mean they're bad. Plenty of people have driven my car with no complaints about wheel weight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 Well you can drive with heavy wheels if you want, but he was asking about lighter wheels. Heavy wheels are never good though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 From swapping between heavier and lighter wheels on my car I think you'll only notice a difference when swapping from one to the other, not just when driving round on heavier wheels. From my own experiences I definitely prefer it on the lighter wheels as it feels much livelier, more precise, nimble, etc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 Well, for the miniscule difference it makes, I'm willing to sacrifice forum points for money and looks 1 KevinA reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike 458 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 18 minutes ago, Lauren said: Well you can drive with heavy wheels if you want, but he was asking about lighter wheels. Heavy wheels are never good though. My 10.2kg wheels were plenty good enough when it was wet in the morning at Blyton in the TSS at the start of this year Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 Well the difference would certainly be more tangible going from light wheels to heavy wheels. My only good comparison was swopping between my TE37s (7.4kg) to OEM wheels (9.2kg) and I could certainly notice it. Obviously you acclimatise to the heavier wheels, but it really is surprising the difference it makes when going back to the lighter wheels. The thing is, though, the difference is absolutely everywhere when it comes to how the car accelrates, how the suspension reacts, how it affects the general feeling of the chassis. I wouldn't call those 'miniscule' differences. Kev tried some super heavy wheels with 255 tyres and his wheels were something like 5kg (it may have been more) heavier than mine. It crucified him in the sprint and he was way off the pace. Not being able to get heat into such large tyres was another factor, but it blunted what the car could do everywhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 2 minutes ago, Mike said: My 10.2kg wheels were plenty good enough when it was wet in the morning at Blyton in the TSS at the start of this year They were a bit shit come the afternoon though. 1 Mike reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 8 minutes ago, S18 RSG said: Well, for the miniscule difference it makes, I'm willing to sacrifice forum points for money and looks Not sure about the forum points or the money aspect but I definitely agree with the looks point. For the way most people (not all obviously) use their car they'll probably get more from wheels they like the look of rather than any other aspect. IMO only of course. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 Yep, I totally get that, but I guess it's a case of where your focus lies. Function over form for me, but if I can have both, I might as well. It didn't cost me a fortune either. £800 all in including the refurb on second hand wheels. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
S18 RSG 429 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 Not sure about the forum points or the money aspect but I definitely agree with the looks point. For the way most people (not all obviously) use their car they'll probably get more from wheels they like the look of rather than any other aspect. IMO only of course. Well, the general forum belief is lightweight or nothing. I'm happy to go against that belief for looks. Financially, my wheels were £600 without tyres. In order to get lighter, I'd have either sacrificed looks (I love my wheels), or had to pay a lot more money to get similar design wheels that were forged or something. Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 4 minutes ago, Lauren said: Yep, I totally get that, but I guess it's a case of where your focus lies. Function over form for me, but if I can have both, I might as well. It didn't cost me a fortune either. £800 all in including the refurb on second hand wheels. The danger of second hand wheels is the state they can be in sometimes though - I remember looking at your wheels before you bought them but the fact one was buckled put me right off as, even once repaired, it's not something I'd feel comfortable with on my car (although obviously since you've had them and had them repaired I know you've not had any problems so I do acknowledge that it's more just me than an actual issue). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 4 minutes ago, S18 RSG said: Well, the general forum belief is lightweight or nothing. I'm happy to go against that belief for looks. Financially, my wheels were £600 without tyres. In order to get lighter, I'd have either sacrificed looks (I love my wheels), or had to pay a lot more money to get equally nice wheels that were forged or something. Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk Relatively cheap and light weight is possible though (fox fx005's being a good example) but agreed that generally light weight wheels will cost a lot more than slightly heavier ones. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted November 12, 2016 Lighter is better, of that there can be no doubt. Yep, a lot of people won't gain a huge amount of benefit if they're a moderate driver with lighter wheels and don't really push their car. Depends what you want of course. But if you do, lighter is definitely the way to go. I only highlight this as it does make a difference. And yes, Jeff, I was a bit concerned that one of my wheels had a bent rim on the lip, but that was easy to sort out and though it's not perfect, it's good enough and has been no issue at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
