Wheel size/weight VS. Tire size/weight

[deevergote]

Back to the good ol' rotating mass question

I know that the larger the wheel, the heavier it is. However, it's obvious that the larger the wheel, the less heavy tire you'd need. I'm just wondering if anyone has an idea on the optimal configuration for weight.

I'm thinking 16" wheels with standard tires (nothing over- or under-sized) would be a good middle of the road...


I know wheel and tire width (adding to the weight) is also a factor in going fast (more area = more traction, hopefully), so that would definitely be a confound...


Any ideas?

[LAMSV]

actually...when you go with a bigger rim, ususally the tire weighs more also. the reasoning is simple. with a stock tire, they don't have to make the sidewalls very hard....there is so much material anyways, that they sidewalls don't need to be thick to support the car. with a low profile tire, the sidewalls are a harder compound, and they are thicker as well. this is bad. the worst place to locate the weight of a rotating assembly is at the outer edge. this is were the majority of your perfomance loss comes from when you upgrade to a larger wheel and tire. it isn't so much the added weight...but where the added weight is located. to sum it up...the more weight is located at the edge of the rotating assembly, the harder it is to turn. to answer your question, it would probably be best to stick with a 15" or 16" rim, with a soft sidewall. that is the best of both worlds...light wheel, and light tire.

[deevergote]

That's a very interesting way of thinking about it... I never thuoght of it that way! I'm glad I'm sticking to 16" now

[NutBucket]

Here's the numbers.

Stock steelies w/ Goodyear Regatta2's (stock size)
36lbs for the combo


Rota Tarmac w/ Yokohama Parada Spec2 205/45R17
40lbs for the combo

BTW, stock alloys tend to be heavy. My friend's stock wheel/tire (15") off his '03 Accord LX were 40lbs and he got some 16" alloys off a 6th gen V6 coupe and they were like 45 lbs each w/ tires. Talk about porkers!