Weight of the wheel important or a Myth?

Laidback · #1 01-13-2011, 04:50 AM

We've all seen wheel companies play the weight of the wheel game but am curious if its a true or plain marketing scheme, I wanna see if rotating mass is more important than weight of the wheel...Sometimes its confusing when people get too in detail on the weight of the wheels that they forget the weight of the tires is important aswell...they put on heavier tires, hence why spend more money on lighter wheels if your going on to put heavier tires?

which is more effective and will give the best bang for your buck?

Simplify:

Lighter wheels (pricey) x Heavy tires (same price)= X
Heavy wheels ( can be cheap or pricey) x Lighter tires (same pricing) = X
Isnt that the same?

Shouldn't it be
Lighter wheels x Lighter tires = X

What about:

Weight of rating Mass or
Weight of the wheels

What do you guys think about this?

leonard_e36 · #2 01-13-2011, 05:09 AM

i think that its equally or maybe more important the diameter of the wheel . ( i dont say to put 15 inches wheels on e92 m3 but if you care about performance try not to exceed the factory size more than 1 inch )

the planetary (say good?) spins the wheels from its center , become more and more harder to spin if the size of the rims is growing ...

correct me if i'm wrong

randomquickness · #3 01-13-2011, 07:47 AM

lighter is better no matter which way you skin the cat. now which one of you ballers is going to buy some of these?

http://www.dymag-usa.com/automotive/

Faymester · #4 01-13-2011, 07:28 PM

^ those r yummy!

E90///M3 · #5 01-13-2011, 07:36 PM

i agree... lighter is better... in practically every which way you split it

Laidback · #6 01-14-2011, 12:30 AM

Let me open your Eyes

Not a car but it will give u a clear picture...
http://www.analyticcycling.com/WheelsConcept_Page.html

randomquickness · #7 01-14-2011, 05:29 AM

Whoa! too many numbers! had to close it quick!

sportyracr m3 · #8 01-14-2011, 10:38 AM

my head hurts after opening that. i though i left physics and statistics back in college.

LateBraking · #9 01-14-2011, 10:50 AM

This is something that I've always argued about with my friend, along with rotations per minute versus distance traveled in regards to wheel + tire size....glad to see that I'm not the only one to think this way....

He simply claimed that 18 inch is superior to 19 inch on an M3 because an 18 inch wheel is lighter, but my argument was that if you get a 18 inch wheel with a 245/45, versus a 19 inch wheel with a 245/35 (in order to theoretically preserve the same overall total diameter, in order to take that factor out of this equation), if you take into account the reduced amount of tire weight due to less existing material, in addition to the weight of the air (air weights something too), where air inside a 18 inch wheel with a larger tire will weight more due to there being more air against air inside a 19 inch wheel with a smaller tire, it's too simple of an argument to state that low wheel weight and smaller wheel size = immediately better performance....well, I can go on, but this is getting long.

Think of how its easy to find the weight of a wheel but not so easy to find the weight of a tire though....a lot of marketing if you ask me. People are most concerned about treadwear and grip on a tire, but strength and weight on a wheel, so that's what is most marketed....

Laidback · #10 01-14-2011, 11:23 AM

+1, I had to look and I was

but it intrigued me and hence i did the read it

Trust me this is an interesting topic and lets research more on this

Quote:

Originally Posted by randomquickness

Whoa! too many numbers! had to close it quick!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportyracr m3

my head hurts after opening that. i though i left physics and statistics back in college.

Or maybe its all in the Rotational Mass = The centers of the wheel

Quote:

Originally Posted by LateBraking

This is something that I've always argued about with my friend, along with rotations per minute versus distance traveled in regards to wheel + tire size....glad to see that I'm not the only one to think this way....

He simply claimed that 18 inch is superior to 19 inch on an M3 because an 18 inch wheel is lighter, but my argument was that if you get a 18 inch wheel with a 245/45, versus a 19 inch wheel with a 245/35 (in order to theoretically preserve the same overall total diameter, in order to take that factor out of this equation), if you take into account the reduced amount of tire weight due to less existing material, in addition to the weight of the air (air weights something too), where air inside a 18 inch wheel with a larger tire will weight more due to there being more air against air inside a 19 inch wheel with a smaller tire, it's too simple of an argument to state that low wheel weight and smaller wheel size = immediately better performance....well, I can go on, but this is getting long.

Think of how its easy to find the weight of a wheel but not so easy to find the weight of a tire though....a lot of marketing if you ask me. People are most concerned about treadwear and grip on a tire, but strength and weight on a wheel, so that's what is most marketed....