Cheap lightweight wheels

[FNG]

You'll also notice the reduced unsprung weight when hitting kerbs.

Snag is that with lighter weight wheels, all other things being equal you have a higher risk of damaging them by hitting kerbs!

[Evoluzione]

mmm-five said:

Evoluzione said:

Unfortunately 'cheap' and 'light' rarely go together with wheels.

A classic 'trilemma'...CHEAP and/or LIGHT and/or STRONG

You can get any 2, but never all 3

Similar to the other classic 'trilemma'...CHEAP and/or FAST and/or QUALITY

No. You can't have cheap and light.
Anyone who has listed what they think is cheap and light, clearly doesn't know what light means.
RPF1 are light, but they certainly aren't cheap.
Although it has to be said, a badly written question deserves an equally poor response and the OP hasn't been back either.

[CedricN]

Lightest is not always fastest as it has been demonstrated in some tests. The deflection of the some light wheels make them slower than heavier wheels, stiffness is also very important. I hope the serious wheel manufacturers have better know how on the stiffness subject.

[Evoluzione]

CedricN said:

Lightest is not always fastest as it has been demonstrated in some tests. The deflection of the some light wheels make them slower than heavier wheels, stiffness is also very important. I hope the serious wheel manufacturers have better know how on the stiffness subject.

Do you have a link to any such test?

[Blanchimont]

Have you looked at Protrack wheels? A lot of cars at the ring use them.

[Trackdayer]

Blanchimont said:

Have you looked at Protrack wheels? A lot of cars at the ring use them.

Great wheels, I have some myself, but not cheap.

[Blanchimont]

Trackdayer said:

Blanchimont said:

Have you looked at Protrack wheels? A lot of cars at the ring use them.

Great wheels, I have some myself, but not cheap.

I'm looking at them for my current car, but don't look like they don't do the size I need. Probably go Enkei or something instead.

[CedricN]

Evoluzione said:

CedricN said:

Lightest is not always fastest as it has been demonstrated in some tests. The deflection of the some light wheels make them slower than heavier wheels, stiffness is also very important. I hope the serious wheel manufacturers have better know how on the stiffness subject.

Do you have a link to any such test?

Will try to find the magazine article again, heard similar data from internal testing from a well known race suspension supplier. Significant amounts of camber lost, which costs more lap time than the lower weight.

[otolith]

Evoluzione said:

mmm-five said:

Evoluzione said:

Unfortunately 'cheap' and 'light' rarely go together with wheels.

A classic 'trilemma'...CHEAP and/or LIGHT and/or STRONG

You can get any 2, but never all 3

Similar to the other classic 'trilemma'...CHEAP and/or FAST and/or QUALITY

No. You can't have cheap and light.
Anyone who has listed what they think is cheap and light, clearly doesn't know what light means.
RPF1 are light, but they certainly aren't cheap.

Of course you can. Buy cheap and heavy and then start grinding off metal. Cheap, light, and weak.

[HustleRussell]

2 out of 3 race cars I have owned have had Steel wheels. Modern OEM ‘alloys’ are so heavy and oversized that pressed steel wheels may actually be lighter.

Steel wheels are also tougher. I have finished races on a buckled steel wheel where an alloy would have probably cracked.

[ChocolateFrog]

944 Man said:

ChocolateFrog said:

Pretty much the go to answer for cheap and reasonably lightweight.

Are Team Dynamics wheels really any good? I don't expect Rays quality for Compomotive money, but I am old enough to remember when Team Dynamics were branded 100+ and they were gash.

What has improved the most: their quality or their marketing?

My brother has a couple of sets he uses for racing, on a VX220 and a Caterham. They seem to do the job. Not sure what else there is about that compares at the price point.

[FNG]

otolith said:

Evoluzione said:

mmm-five said:

Evoluzione said:

Unfortunately 'cheap' and 'light' rarely go together with wheels.

A classic 'trilemma'...CHEAP and/or LIGHT and/or STRONG

You can get any 2, but never all 3

Similar to the other classic 'trilemma'...CHEAP and/or FAST and/or QUALITY

No. You can't have cheap and light.
Anyone who has listed what they think is cheap and light, clearly doesn't know what light means.
RPF1 are light, but they certainly aren't cheap.

Of course you can. Buy cheap and heavy and then start grinding off metal. Cheap, light, and weak.

I hope you missed a smiley off there.

[otolith]

FNG said:

I hope you missed a smiley off there.

[otolith]

ChocolateFrog said:

944 Man said:

ChocolateFrog said:

Pretty much the go to answer for cheap and reasonably lightweight.

Are Team Dynamics wheels really any good? I don't expect Rays quality for Compomotive money, but I am old enough to remember when Team Dynamics were branded 100+ and they were gash.

What has improved the most: their quality or their marketing?

My brother has a couple of sets he uses for racing, on a VX220 and a Caterham. They seem to do the job. Not sure what else there is about that compares at the price point.

Team Dynamics is a brand of Rimstock. The Pro Forged Superlight is an OEM wheel for the Elise Cup R - it's light, at 5.3kg/6.9kg, though it's not cheap.

The Pro Race 1.2 seems quite popular with Elise/Exige owners, it's cheap but it's not all that light at 7.5kg/9kg.

[Strudul]

Evoluzione said:

No. You can't have cheap and light.
Anyone who has listed what they think is cheap and light, clearly doesn't know what light means.
RPF1 are light, but they certainly aren't cheap.
Although it has to be said, a badly written question deserves an equally poor response and the OP hasn't been back either.

£200 for a full set of 18's?

8J at 8.25kg
8.5J at 8.45kg

[CedricN]

Here is a test of wheel weight vs stiffness, on a race track:

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=479...


And test from Grassroots motorsport, with very large different weight differences on smaller wheels, and tested on a smaller track, so intertia effects on acceleration will be bigger.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/are-lig...

[944 Man]

otolith said:

ChocolateFrog said:

944 Man said:

ChocolateFrog said:

Good.

Really?

Yes.

Yes.

Thanks.

[handbraketurn]

Thanks for feedback and suggestions. Have been looking at Evo 8.

And added a few more to my auto searches for used.

If I was to get new ones, I'd probably go for the Team Dynamics.

Interesting about stiff versus light.

Standard Honda wheels are quite stiff and strong, but they weight something insane like 13kg each IIRC.

I've got a spare set, maybe I should just stick with them.

[Evoluzione]

CedricN said:

Here is a test of wheel weight vs stiffness, on a race track:

https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=479...


And test from Grassroots motorsport, with very large different weight differences on smaller wheels, and tested on a smaller track, so intertia effects on acceleration will be bigger.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/are-lig...

Thanks for digging those out, the second one is very interesting.

[handbraketurn]

otolith said:

Evoluzione said:

mmm-five said:

Evoluzione said:

Unfortunately 'cheap' and 'light' rarely go together with wheels.

A classic 'trilemma'...CHEAP and/or LIGHT and/or STRONG

You can get any 2, but never all 3

Similar to the other classic 'trilemma'...CHEAP and/or FAST and/or QUALITY

No. You can't have cheap and light.
Anyone who has listed what they think is cheap and light, clearly doesn't know what light means.
RPF1 are light, but they certainly aren't cheap.

Of course you can. Buy cheap and heavy and then start grinding off metal. Cheap, light, and weak.

Apparently that is what this guy did....