Stereodude

I've been looking at rims for my 2002 (that I don't have yet). I came upon a SSR Competition's at tirerack in my search. The rims weight 13.1lbs, which is super light for a 17x8. Actually those are the lightest 17x8's I could find. Anyhow... I've got a few questions.

1) Are these rims any good? I didn't find much when I searched on them here other than they're light. Are they so light they're not going to hold up to regular driving in my commute?

2) Will they work/fit properly with 245/45/17 tires on a 2002?

3) How much performance increase (if any will I see moving from stock rims)?

4) How much does a 245/45/17 tire typically weigh (the rubber)?

Stereodude

got rice?

iTrader: (2)

1) Are these rims any good? I didn't find much when I searched on them here other than they're light. Are they so light they're not going to hold up to regular driving in my commute?
** Yes, I have them on my Miata. The SSRs are only used when I'm autocrossing, though. A bunch of Miata owners use it for daily driving, though.
pic 1
pic 2
pic 3

2) Will they work/fit properly with 245/45/17 tires on a 2002?
**What size tire doe you have now?

3) How much performance increase (if any will I see moving from stock rims)?
**It depends on the tire you go with since tire weights vary. The tire will probably weigh around 25 lbs, so the combo of wheel/tire will be a very light 38 lbs, savings of about 10 lbs of unsprung weight on each corner. This is roughly .2 to .4 seconds on the qtr mile.

4) How much does a 245/45/17 tire typically weigh (the rubber)?
** see above

Stereodude

The factory tire on a 2002 SE is a 225/50/17. I've seen other people on this forum say that a 245/45/17 will fit on a 17x7.5 or 17x8 on a Max, but I'm not certain that the SSR's have the same offset as some of the other rims people have tried.

Why do you only use the SSR's when autocrossing?

Stereodude

Kevin Wong

17X8 with 235/45/17 tires. They look nice and all with this tire size, but I think I'd like to go a little bit wider. I believe some people have fit 235/45/17 on a 17X7 tire.

Lordrandall

iTrader: (4)

Woah Phuong, those things are tucked!

Nice light rim.

Stereodude

Well after poking around the web I found that most 245/45/17's weigh between 26-29lbs each. Even with 13.1lbs rims that's not all that light. Only about 10lbs better than the stock wheels/tire combination. The Kumho ECSTA 712's I was looking at are 28.2lbs in a 245/45/17.

Stereodude

Lordrandall

iTrader: (4)

10 lbs./corner is heck of a reduction. What were you expecting?

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

go on a diet? j/k
10 lbs a corner is good.

Stereodude

Uhh... I don't know... I've got no experience with rims and tires. 10 lbs per corner didn't seem all that significant to me. So lemme get this straight?... Shaving off 10lbs of each of 4 wheels is going to make the car 0.2-0.4 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile? What will it do to a 0-60 times? Cause if this is true my otherwise stock 2002 SE with HLSD should be able to run in the 13's. That's nutty.

Stereodude

Weasel

iTrader: (2)

It's a drastic reduction in time over just taking 10 pounds out of the car because this is reducing the amount of weight the engine has to actually turn, not just haul.

Stereodude

I understand the concept of rotational intertia. I just wasn't aware the extent that 40lbs of rotating mass has on the car and it's performance. If this is the case why don't more people get superlight rims instead of big 'ol heavy 19's?

Stereodude

Weasel

iTrader: (2)

SoMe PeOpLe GoTs Ta HaVe dA bLiNg-bLiNg y'aLL!!!!~~ HoLLA!!!!!!!1

People do it for looks. I would go with lightweight wheels if it was me, but I can't afford new wheels. You brought up something else good about lightweight wheels. Even if they are lighter than stock, having more rotational mass further from the axis of rotation is going to increase the moment of inertia, regardless of total weight. It's a very small tradeoff for sweet-looking wheels though. Some wheels (such as the SSR Comps) are significantly lighter than stock though, so it's all good.

Stereodude

I don't think it's necessarily moving the mass further out, or changing the distribution of the weight. I would imagine that lightweight wheels use only as much material as is needed. They're probably removing an equal percentage of the weight from the outside as they do from the inside spokes.

You might be correct if you're upsizing the wheels. If you had a 25lb stock 17" rim (which the max seems to have) and you get a 25lb 19" rim it probably will have a higher rotational inertia. However going from a 25lb 17" to a 13.1lb 17" rim you're cutting down the rotational interia regardless of it's distribution.

Stereodude

Weasel

iTrader: (2)

That's what I meant (changing to a larger rim), didn't make it very clear.

NYCe MaXiMa

iTrader: (9)

10 lbs better then stock wheel/tire combination?? What stock wheel and tire combo are you running? I thought even a 15" wheel/tire combo would be at least a good 38 lbs?

a 13lb wheel + a 27 lb tire is 40 lbs.. That is no 10 lb reduction....

When you go for bigger, but lighter wheels, it does not neccessarily mean you are going to have an overall lighter wheel/tire combo on your car.... For example, I got a set of brand new ROH Reflex lightweight 16 X 7" rims for my 93 SE.. the rims weighed 15.5 lbs each. However, each tire (sumitomo 225/50/16) weighed 24 lbs. this is a 39.5 lb combo. My stock combo was just about 40 lbs, if not less.. bigger diameter/lower profile tires get quite heavy because of re-inforced sidewalls since the tire is thinner, there is less air and it has to support a higher air pressure usually... Plus it has to be tough enough to still ride on the roads without blowing.....

People pay tons of $$$ for lightweight 17-18-19" wheels but the overall weight is still the same as stock or even heavier, regardless of how light your wheels are... Besides, most smaller 15" wheels are usually just as light or even lighter, plus 15" tires are lighter too. People get these pricey wheels because they are durable, light for their size and are the closest to stock in terms of keeping the car light on it's feet sort of speak. Primary benefit of larger diameter wheels = looks. If you want traction and cornerning capabilities, a set of light 15 X 7" or 15 X 8" rims would serve well enough for dragging... although an 18" X 8" rim (let's say) will be slightly stiffer in cornening because the sidewall is so thin, the tire doesn't really flex much and the rim is helping keep the car stable.

If you are a hard core drag racer and go to the track a lot, you can get some lightweight 15's with some nice tires. Some light weight 15's weigh as much as 12 lbs, I heard of some Mugen wheels weighing something like 7-8 lbs each

Benefit of lighter, yet bigger wheels = better looks, car isn't significantly slower, but it isn't faster then stock in most cases... just faster then another non-lightweight 18" rim.

Stereodude

Well considering I'm talking about a 2002 that has 50+ lb wheels from the factory and not a 1993 with 15" factory rims. There really is a 10lb improvement per corner. Most 15" rims won't even clear the new brakes on the 2002 I'm told.

I'm not that interested in going to the drag strip to be honest I'm interested in handling mods. It seems that all the autocross people have the rims I'm looking at on their car because they're so light. I'd like the car to move quickly and they should help according to what other members have told me, but I'm not so concerned about going fast down the 1/4 mile that I'm going to get a set of 15" rims and slicks.

The fact that they wheels are lighter and the rubber is wider than stock should help handling. If they allow the car to accelerate faster, well that's a good side effect too.

Stereodude

got rice?

iTrader: (2)

lighter wheels are generally better used for road racing and not drag racing since the drag strip is only 1/4 mile and lasts a short period. You would shave off about 1-2 seconds on a 60 second autocross course, all things being equal except having a 40 lb unsprung weight reduction in the wheels (all four corners). This is one reason why you see some cars run 13" aluminum wheels (in addition to shorter gearing). Those 7-8 lb wheels definately help in reducing times.

got rice?

iTrader: (2)

I forgot to answer the tire size question - yes, 245/45/17 will be fine. This has a rolling diameter of 80.68". 225/50/17 is 81.23". The difference is minimal so there's no problems (speedo will be off by about .4 mph @ 60 mph). Since the rolling diameter is less, gearing will be shorter so technically acceleration would also be improved.

Stereodude

I knew the speedo would be close. I was more concerned about the width and potential rubbing. I've been told that a 245/35/19 will rub under a few rare conditions, so I was wondering if/why a 245/45/17 will rub or not. Both the 245/35/19's and the 245/45/17's when mounted on rims are for all intents and purpose's the same size. They have the same width and diameter, so why is one fine, but the other not?

Stereodude

got rice?

iTrader: (2)

I don't think rubbing would be a huge issue; it might rub when you hit a bump when the wheel is a full lock left/right.

Offset also plays a factor where/if it will rub.

Stereodude

So should I get a 235/45/17 and deal with the speedo being off a little more, or what? What would you do?

Stereodude

got rice?

iTrader: (2)

I'd go with the 235/45/17

Stereodude

Ok, thanks for all the help.

Stereodude