Vixen wheel weight ?

[Moto]

Anyone know the weight of the standard Vixen alloy 'fin' wheel. I could weigh mine but it would mean removing and refitting the tyre.

Thx

Moto

[Moto]

phillpot said:

Weigh a tyre and subtract from total weight?

Same issue. To weigh the tyre I'd have to take it off the rim.

I was hoping some one may have a rim lying around that they could weigh to save me having to split & refit.

Moto

[Moto]

As accurate as possible really, say to within 0.1 of a kg would be fantastic.

Nigel, that would be really appreciated, thx.

I'm trying to calculate (to see what reduction is possible) the unsprung weight.The starting points are wheels & tyres. Just wanting to compare a standard Vixen fin rim weight compared to a new Minilite rim or other forged rim.

Moto

[Moto]

Thx Nige. That's really useful.

Moto

[Moto]

Mr Plow said:

I'd be interested to understand other areas you've identified where weight can be saved. One of my primary goals is to rebuild the car as light as possible. But still retain reliability and adhere the blue book regulations.

FWIW, my view is that blue book regs are inherently about adding weight ie you have to add something such as a roll cage/bar or fire extinguisher, etc. The reg's may also define things you can't do which also inherently means you can't take certain weight out.

The common practices fit into 'easy to do' - such as swap a cast iron component for an alloy equivalent such as head, bell housing, gearbox casing, diff casing etc. Also consider replacing glass with poly carb items. 'Hard to do' items are primarily lightening the body work by replacing existing with thinner glass fibre items. This is obviously high cost work. These are all sprung weight items so if you run in a handicap championship like me, there's little or no benefit as power and weight are usually the key handicap elements in any handicap calculation.

More beneficial can be reducing unsprung weight as it is claimed to offer greater benefit per kg saved. I've seen stated anything from 4-15 x multipliers. You can do this replacing rear brake hub covers with alloy or fit lighter rims or tyres. Obviously this may also increase or decrease other important elements such as grip, tyre roll, braking, acceleration etc.

It is a bit of a black art and very much based on complex physics or a combination of experience and testing. All good fun though.

Moto

[Moto]

The conclusion I came to was that there's not much opportunity to reduce weight from the standard wheel / combination. Alloy hubs, calipers & drums seems to be the main unsprung weight saving opportunities.

Moto