hey I just bought a pair of mazda wheels for the track, this combo weights is 12bls lighter than my old

question is provided nothing else is changes how much could this help my times

 

Depends on the tires mounted on the wheels - my Mazda Millenia wheels and BFG DRs together weight about 34 lbs each. My M&H slicks on alloy 15x10 rims weigh the same. The slicks have much better traction.

I've never seen any actual claims about how much quicker you can be with lighter front wheels - not that I remember, anyway. It can't be much.

 

well I was hoping with the wheel being lighter it would have the same effect as a lighter udp or flywheel and allow the engine to get into the power band quicker

either way I'll find out friday when I go to the track, it's still weight reduction
and less rotating mass for the engine turn

 

It can't be bad - just no good clues about how good it is. I try to do the same thing with lighter tires/rims in the front. You would think "light is right".

 

i thought i heard somewhere that losing 10lbs of rotational mass is equal to losing 100lbs of sprung weight. dont quote me on that though, im not sure

 

Yeah ive heard something to that effect as well

 

I heard the same thing but it was 1lb = 7lbs, but was not sure how true is was and how much it would help my times

either way it has to help

 

The other "heard somewhere" rumor is that removing 100 lbs of weight will give you another .1 sec off your ET. So does anybody believe that a wheel/tire combo that is 10lbs lighter will give you a tenth of a second in the quarter?

The path to "quicker" is to refine all parts of your car, and really learn to drive it. Practice, practice, practice - and take notes...

 

It's possible depending on your setup, if 100lbs is really worth 1-tenth which we all know it's worth something look at caesar and the wheels are good for 70-100lbs I know lighter driveshafts on rwd cars work

what I think will happen is the engine will be able to rev quicker due to the lighter wheels and help with the 60ft and help the engine get into it's powerband faster, the only problem I can see is it will be easier to spin

I already write down what happened on every run and save it on my pc when I get home. the only thing is a like to do 1 mod at a time so I know what effect it had on the car but this time I will have the lighter wheels, new exhaust and regaped plugs to .038

 

I gained a consistent .1s and .75mph dropping 7lbs from my 37lb 17" K1/T1-S combo to my 30lb Millenia/crap tire combo.

 

Back when I did some testing with my Gforce I saw .15sec for 12lbs reduced front tire/wheel weight. Some of that was gearing but you can feel the difference night & day. My street rims & tires are 97lbs for both fronts; Autox are 68lbs; Drag slicks 56lbs. Every weekend it's like losing a passenger or two.

 

Well, here's hoping you smoke 'em all !!

 

That sounds about right to me. I never logged it really but just going from memory and feel, when I switched to Millenias/BFG's from stock rim/crappy all seasons it was at least a tenth.

 

great about 1 tenth is what I was hoping for

 

im going to be bold and say .2. your saying you reduced 12 lbs per wheel/tire. which would be x2 = 24 lbs unsprung weight total.

again just a guess. i have always tried to keep records of any changes etc, and keep data at the track. one thing i have learned through doing this is that, you can get a good idea, but the darn track has so many variables many times its difficult to pinpoint or toss something over in the fact bin.

i weighed my stock wheels/tires back in the day, and used that formula that floats around the automotive world about every 1 lb of unsprung weight is like reducing 8-10 lbs off the chassis.

it worked for me, what we all do know is lighter is better, or reducing unsprung weight.

cheers
cc

 

We will find out on friday tom. I think I am going for the 75 shot right off the bat. I don't want to be left behind. I went and got my bottle filled and bought my plugs and am now ready.

We gotta line up next to each other and get a race going.

 

lighter rims will help, but not as much as you may think, the difference in weight can easily be added depending on how full your gas tank is. a good way to improve 1/4 times is put a smaller diameter tire on, this will allow the car to accellerate faster, giving you a faster ET. good luck at the track!

 

All of these comments are close to what I've heard...1lb=8lb equivalence to dead mass. I got wheels that were about 8-9lb lighter than stock, so according to my calculations I should be about a 1/4ish second quicker. 8x4x8=256lb equivalent to dead mass...

 

well I went to the track and picked up 3mph and 3 tenths but my times might have been better cause my afpr crapped out during the run and the car would not hold a steady rpm and when I pulled over it would even cut off

also I added a 2.5" b-pipe, high flow cat, flow master muffler and regaped my plugs from .041 to .038, so between the afpr problems and other mods I am not sure just how much the wheels really helped but I feel good cause my times still improved with car trouble