sandhurst Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 I have now ordered my factory built Sport 2000 but can still change the wheel style. It's between a 5 spoke [which I favour visually] and a multi spoke [which is said to be around 2 KG lighter per wheel]. Is the weight difference significant in any other area than bhp/ton - I am thinking of the mysteries [to me] of unsprung weight. I should say that I am not thinking of changing from the standard size 195/50/15 tyres and the car is for road use only. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelcoombs Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 the exciting world of unsprung weight and the 'emotive' topic of wheel size is a regular feature of the boardroom... of the numerous previous threads, here is just one, this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomcat Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 More important in the "mysterious" unsprung weight area than BHP/Tonne IMHO. I borrowed my mates wheels and tyres for a track day which had heavier wheels on (2.5 KG each, and the difference was really noticeable (in a bad way) choppy ride - skitish handling - unstable under braking and turn in - horrible! I appreciate I didn't have chance to set the car up properly but that said it is generally appreciated that the lower the unsprung mass the better! Cheers Jan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Keene Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 Ligther wheels always. Westfields are not heavy cars and as a result the unsprung weight is much higher %age of the cars total weight. Any measures taken to reduce it will have a much greater impact than the same weight reduction of sprung weight. I changed my wheels at the start of the year and saved 18kgs (allowing for scale accuracy) and the car felt completely different, in a good way I might add... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 What Martin said. Always do your best to get unsprung weight down whenever possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen H Posted October 24, 2005 Share Posted October 24, 2005 I would have thought that reducing unsprung weight was possibly more / just as benificial on 'Fast Road' use than on the track. this statement is based on the average 'A' or 'B' roads being considerably more bumby than a track surface would be and therfore you would want the suspension to react just as freely, after all there's very rearly any run off on the roads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevio Posted October 27, 2005 Share Posted October 27, 2005 .................... ..... steve <-....... *keeping real quiet in the corner* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandhurst Posted October 28, 2005 Author Share Posted October 28, 2005 Right then, lighter wheels it is. Apart from the now obvious reasons stated, I can't see them from inside the car anyway. I could look in shop windows as I creep by in traffic but I did this in my Convertible A70 and found that the traffic had stopped [the clue was the "kissing" noise coming from my bumpers and the happy chappy in front of me!]. Thanks for all the comments & advice. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazpowerslide Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Go for 13" wheels IMMHO Going from 7X15 with 195/50/15 to 7x13 with 205/60/13 transformed my car. I don't think I'd ever go back to 15" wheels after running with the 13" ones. Chaz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I think for Sandhursts requirements and intended use pattern, the 15's will be fine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananaman Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 intended use pattern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazpowerslide Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I'm on a bit of a crusade since I changed Personally I prefer the 13" opiton both in terms of looks and performance. It's a personal choice as has been said many before. Chaz. Edited my last post to IMMHO (In My Most Humble Opinion) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananaman Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I'm on a bit of a crusade since I changed Personally I prefer the 13" opiton both in terms of looks and performance. It's a personal choice as has been said many before. Chaz. Edited my last post to IMMHO (In My Most Humble Opinion) I have to agree, on my old car, I changed from heavy 15" Wheels and Toyo Proxies to light 13" wheels and AO21's and it was the best thing i did, looked a lot better IMHO to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve R Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 I have to agree, on my old car I went from 7.5x16" wheels (~19.5kg per corner with tyres ) to 6x13" CXRs and it made a huge difference. Best upgrade I've ever done. I also went to ACB-10s at the same time, so saved over 30kgs according to my scales, plus another ~20kg by ditching the spare wheel and bracket. I'd never go back to the larger sizes as the feel of the car is transformed with the lighter wheels - less unsprung mass and less rotating inertia is the way forward! Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chazpowerslide Posted October 28, 2005 Share Posted October 28, 2005 Chaz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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