Lightweight wheels
Discussion
I’ve been pondering a set of lightweight wheels for the trackday MX5 but I’m not sure if I will feel the benefits. I already have a cheap set of 2nd wheels, but they are heavy compared to the stock wheels and much heavier than the ones I’m looked at. The set I’m considering are about 2.5kg lighter.
What do lighter wheels feel like, is there a tangible difference for somebody who’s not into ultimate lap times but more about the enjoyment of the day?
What do lighter wheels feel like, is there a tangible difference for somebody who’s not into ultimate lap times but more about the enjoyment of the day?
It's an NC1 that I'm using. I don't use the stock wheels for track, I bought a cheap 2nd set of wheels to allow me to have two sets of tyres. These are the wheels (I'm running 16 inch)
MSW 77 - 9.60kg
https://www.felgenoutlet.com/en/alloy-wheels-tyres...
The ones I'm looking at (which are used by a Mini race team in Germany) are these:
Autec Wizard - 7.2kg
https://www.felgenoutlet.com/en/alloy-wheels-tyres...
So the difference between them is big, but the standard NC wheels sit in between the two in terms of weight. I could put the track tyres on the standard wheels, but, that doesn't allow for new toys, right?
It's an interesting point you make though about adapting driving style based on what you have.
MSW 77 - 9.60kg
https://www.felgenoutlet.com/en/alloy-wheels-tyres...
The ones I'm looking at (which are used by a Mini race team in Germany) are these:
Autec Wizard - 7.2kg
https://www.felgenoutlet.com/en/alloy-wheels-tyres...
So the difference between them is big, but the standard NC wheels sit in between the two in terms of weight. I could put the track tyres on the standard wheels, but, that doesn't allow for new toys, right?
It's an interesting point you make though about adapting driving style based on what you have.
reggie747 said:
OEM wheels on the NC are very light to start with. You'll have to open your pocket quite wide to do a little better only.
I've just looked this up, if the internet is to be believed they are very light and could be the most cost-effective solution! £200 or so on eBay for a set of 4! snotrag said:
Any reason your using 16 and 17s?
Cheaper tyres, nothing else. Just trying to keep the costs down where I can (yes, I know, not buying things would help, but...)braddo said:
Ps4 are still a high quality grippy tyre. You are not feeling for ultimate grip - it’s steering feel (especially left right transitions) and coping with bumps etc that you are on the lookout for.
Basically if the car doesnt feel appreciably better to drive on your road wheels i’d be doubtful of you noticing the benefits of the new track wheels. Im not saying to not go shopping
It does feel better, but I need to pay a little more attention to where it feels better. I've got a new daily (Alpine A110) and it's really hard to describe how it feels, other than it feels 'light' and I've not paid that much attention between the two sets of wheels. I'll give it a go next weekend and see what I think. I'm normally grumbling that the track tyres are lower profile and the car hardly gets over the speed bumps on my road! Basically if the car doesnt feel appreciably better to drive on your road wheels i’d be doubtful of you noticing the benefits of the new track wheels. Im not saying to not go shopping
Kawasicki said:
On the bench I mounted both wheels to a horizontal hub and hung 150kg from the rim and measured the deflection with a dial gauge. You could see both wheels clearly deflect under the load.
What was funny was a NVH engineer came into the workshop and laughed at my efforts to be analytical. He said you just need to tap the wheel with a hammer and measure the resulting vibrations. We tapped both wheels on the rim with a plastic hammer.
Heavy, stiff wheel made a diinngggg sound.
Light, flexible wheel made a dooonnnnnnkk sound.
How’s about that for fancy?
The other clear difference between the wheels was how the tyres looked after the test. You could clearly see that on the tyres mounted to the flexible wheel that WAY more of the outer sidewall was contacting the ground when driving. This was hard driving though, not cruising.
In cruising driving the stiffer wheels were just more precise and the steering torque straight ahead was more meaty. How much of this meatiness comes down to gyroscopic effects and how much to wheel stiffness is a test for another day.
Do you have any idea as to how much the weight and CoG of the car impact the deflection of the wheel? What was funny was a NVH engineer came into the workshop and laughed at my efforts to be analytical. He said you just need to tap the wheel with a hammer and measure the resulting vibrations. We tapped both wheels on the rim with a plastic hammer.
Heavy, stiff wheel made a diinngggg sound.
Light, flexible wheel made a dooonnnnnnkk sound.
How’s about that for fancy?
The other clear difference between the wheels was how the tyres looked after the test. You could clearly see that on the tyres mounted to the flexible wheel that WAY more of the outer sidewall was contacting the ground when driving. This was hard driving though, not cruising.
In cruising driving the stiffer wheels were just more precise and the steering torque straight ahead was more meaty. How much of this meatiness comes down to gyroscopic effects and how much to wheel stiffness is a test for another day.
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