LexBrett

This weekend I put my summer tires on with my chrome wheels. My winter tires have 20 lb avanti wheels and these summer tires have heavy 27 lb chrome wheels.

I was shocked at the reduction in performance, handling, and off the line acceleration. I'm so convinced of the astounding differences from the lighter wheels that I am dumping the heavy chrome. Literally.

Question- I saw on tirerack relatively affordable 17.5 lb wheels. Do you all think there would be a noticeabl improvement going from 20 lb to 17.5 lb wheels??

Also, I'm considering all season tires because it's a pain to keep changing tires. Do I lose a lot of performance from running A/S full time versus a summer tire and winter tire seasonally??

Comments suggestions appreciated!!

MrMark

iTrader: (3)

Probably not a huge difference......it may feel a little more nimble but the difference between a chrome and non chrome wheel is the real difference.

I was thinking about moving from a 3 piece wheel to a forged monoblock. This should be a fairly significant difference but I'm having trouble finding the right sizing.

I was thinking about these..... but the widest they make is a 12" +20 offset.

LexBrett

Those are really nice? Why do you think those will improve handling and performance?

MrMark

iTrader: (3)

These are ultra lightweight forged where right now, I'm on heavier 3 piece cast.

LexBrett

Do you have any other suggestions for ultra lightweight wheels with the correct offset and specs?? I don't see too much on tirerack :-(

jzwu

I changed from stock wheels (28 lbs) to lighter aftermarket wheels (~23 lbs) and immediately noticed the difference.

Summer tires will perform better for sure, mostly during cornering and braking. I have A/S tires on my SC430 and summer tires on my BMW. I drive the SC430 as a highway cruiser but drive the BMW like a bat out of hell.

416tt

iTrader: (1)

lighter wheels definitely do make a difference! and those are nice wheels Mr. Mark!

I would also suggest fittings tires not wider then the wheel width a very slight stretch would be perfect.. steering will feel lighter and softer and car will run smoother + less road noise.

FlopTop04

Lighter wheels and tires do make a difference. With my AWD Sienna, the summer tires / factory wheels are RFT's and the winter alloy wheels and snow tires are non-RFT's and much lighter. I feel a huge difference in acceleration between the two set-ups.

I believe I read in one of the car magazines that for every pound less in tire / wheel weight, it's like removing 10 pounds from the vehicle. Some type of sprung vs un-sprung weight ratio. So if you make each tire / wheel 10 pounds lighter, in effect, you just removed 400 pounds from the car.

Mark

There is not a noticeable difference form 20 lbs. wheels to 17.5 lbs. unless the new tire weight is substantial less. You may do well with a high performance A/S tires, but contrary to specifications they do not perform as well in the snow. Dedicated snow tires are better in areas which have heavy snow accumulations. I switch from summer tires to snow tires during the winter.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

see you guys are looking for weight lose. my Work Rims weight 20 lbs each. my EarthX Battery weight is 7.7 lbs
and works great worth the money spent. it's all about weight lose.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

made
this is one great battery. EarthX Lithium Battery 4 months now.

LexBrett

Just bought Conti Pure Conti Tires and mounted them on my 20 lb HS Hybris wheels. I noticed an immediate and dramatic difference in throttle response. Breaking is much better too. Night and day difference from 28 lb chrome wheels!

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

reducing weight on the 430sc is the only way to go. new sway bars will add weight any thing you do may add weight. this is why I install my battery 7.7 lbs this gave me 42.2 lbs to play with to add things. the things I added to my car the car still weight less. like I said its all about weight for performance. you guys think am crazy but I do no what am talking about been doing this for a long time.

TXFM

In terms of Offsets, I'm running 19" iForged wheels. These are the specs:
Front 9" wide rims 26mm offset (stocks are 45 offset for Front & Rear)
Rear !0" wide rims, 28mm Offset

Tires:
Front - 245/35/19
Rear - 285/30/19

The Rear offset is pretty aggressive and works better with 275 wide tires. I think I'd change the rear offsets to move the tires back in a little if I had it to do over again.

Buggeroff6

1. To TX: what offset number(s) would you "bring it back" to..and why? What happens to the handling with bigger tires/wheels in back? Oversteer? Is it of any advantage-god forbid-in rain or snow traction? Worse?
-As the all season talk seemed to peak last spring and here we are in fall, I've been ogling over snow tires v.s all season. I have Michelin Pilot as/t+, and the first winter they were ok, just enough to get by on..but last winter, they were utter crap..I have never had a car which I stopped on just a slight downhill suddenly start moving, like a beginner on skiis!
Be that as it may, I am probably a "convenience" person who'll go for A/S tires again...and I just wanted to point out, fwiw, that Consumer Reports (a pub. I happen to generally find credible) has been touting the Nokian all season R3 as having suitable traction in winter conditions for all but the harshest areas/events. This fits the Boston area pretty well in my book.
However, they seem to like the Michelin ICE X, Hakkepelitta, and a Yokohama (cheaper) as dedicated snows go. I have no preference-they're all noisy, poor wet brake and marginal handling...but when this thread started,2007, I saw a lot of plugs for Bridgestone, courtesy of Tire Rack. I have to make a big flame baiter here-Tire Rack uses their own tests to bascially sell what they make the most profit on, and that, if you look over the years, that has meant waxing all but estatic with hairsplitting oblique numbers games in many reviews of Bridgestone (FIrestone).
I had a set of Bridgestones and that name describes their handling. like riding on a constant bridge of rocks! I realize they may have better traction on snow/iice b/c they feel and handle like dead dog houses, but why not just put on chains if you live in severe winter areas-which most of us know are getting rarer in snow (If more extreme in localized freak weather).
Anyways, Tire Rack is absolutely in it for themselves..p.r and sales hype. A couple of years back they came out with tests showing how great Conti EXTREME DWS was, yet they couldn't even get them in Mustang 05 sizin until their online "review" rubbish generated the mfr. pre-orders go light. The DWS, as tested by C.U, was a total pain in the a/s! End of rant!!
Really, it is kind of a travesty the SC didn't come with AWD. I guess leaving that to Honda and the 150K new two seater is the state of things that come at cost...but if you need full snows for your SC, what most people brag about here (apart from all the mods they've done) is how they have a 2nd car...that is "solution one". IMHO, buying/changing to snows on a car that never got high marks for sporting manners is sort of like VW reprogramming ALL the diesels they ever made to run on veggie oil..and then selling the fuel at Octoberfest..well, I can dream, since they deserve what Germanwings denies..it wasn't "just a couple of wing nut engineers" who knew, just like the holocaust (let's not kid, some auto "reviewers" made a pretty good argument for our SC's being a performance mongrel between a Buick and a Supra 3rd gen=definitive 3 season cars at best)., but not to lie, let's just use full snows to tie to Jeremy Clarkson at ski area "tow rides"!
Point being..least for me, all seasons are a US compromise the rest of the world doesn't generally ride on...but as I read recently at Barnes in a euro car article, the new design "all weather" tires are being intro'd to Europeans as better traction than all seasons if not as good as full duty snows. Snow what? Well...probably some new stuff coming here in a few years, by the time some SC's might be too old for em'! I am assuming the Nokian R3's are part of this new design profile, and if I can just NOT drive my car this winter, methinks they'll kick the ----- out of the Michelins...but Consumer Reports can be wrong, too!
-2002 Blue/Eccru, 51K miles (yay!), cassette/ipod "interface", Soarer rear nameplate (and Totoro in soar mode Japanese bumper stick hiding four bastard's shopping cart marks), full mini spare (oxymoronic), (spare center box and door speaker for sale, just offer$!), best Highlander V8 Japanese XJS I ever owned/worst backseat this side of SL/Porsche (XJ didn't even have a back seat/SL only as a Europe option (or anyone remembering Beverly Hills Motoring Accessories)?! Tie Jeremy to the back seat of any, and he'd generate more hot wind than an air balloon, wth!? Still, I would pay someone to make a bumper sticker this winter that reads "Top Gear/BBC (logos).."The Worst Car In The World, Ever". I lose no traction being proud of the smooth but sometimes hairy handling SC, old Geezer Butler fan I am!-or Lemmy alone!