Which is lighter, small rims/tall tires or big rims/thin tires?

[Shinare]

Ya know.. same actual diameter of the 2 wheel/tire combos.

Just something that popped into my head... was just thinking about reading earlier on here that the rotational inertia of the wheels really effects our small cars so the lighter the tire/wheel combo the better. My guess is the large rim very thin tire? (probably makes for a really bumpy ride tho)

Just wondering, not really in the market for wheels/tires... heh

[slow.yaris]

nope.

small rims/tall tires - lightest

15 inch rims start at 9 lbs. I haven't seen 17s under 17 lbs. The tire difference with the two is maybe 2-3 lbs.

[severous01]

more metal is more dense. plus, not to mention the fact that the larger diameter rims are wider.

[Shinare]

cools, makes sense. I just thought the opposite seeing all these high performance cars with huge rims/very thin tires.

[ilikerice]

with those cars pushing 400+ hp, i dont think 10 extra pounds on each wheel is noticeable. but 100hp, yea.. lol

[Jason@SportsCar]

nope.

small rims/tall tires - lightest

15 inch rims start at 9 lbs. I haven't seen 17s under 17 lbs. The tire difference with the two is maybe 2-3 lbs.

That is a poor example, or you just have not looked hard enough. The weight difference is not nearly that extreme IF you get comparable wheels. Yes, good 15" wheels are 9lbs, but the cheap stuff is 12lbs or more. There are also 17" wheels that weigh 14lbs or less - hell the 18"s we raced on for the previous 5 seasons we 16lbs.

Surprisingly tire size does not change the weight nearly as much as wheels, the difference between a 15" and 17" tire may only be a 2lbs - this is using the same brand and same model of tire. As the diameter of the tire gets bigger, so does the hole in it, you will typically only see an increase in weight if the circumference or width of the tire is increased.

We tested this back to back on the track... A 5lb per corner weight increase (this was using identical size and offset wheels, both with the same exact tire, the only difference being a 5lb increase in wheel weight) varied between one and two tenths of a second slower per lap on a 45sec autocross course.

In the end smaller is lighter, but its not always the best performance package... For a street car, get what you like, and don't sweat a few pounds.

[alch3miss]

with those cars pushing 400+ hp, i dont think 10 extra pounds on each wheel is noticeable. but 100hp, yea.. lol

+1

[severous01]

well, if all youre talkin about is weight smaller is better. but you'll usually get a better reaction and feel for a lower profile tire, to an extent. 40-50 series tires feel much better than a 50 or 70...but once you get blow 45 you tend to get really stiff and and they break before you can feel them going...

so, its all up to you and what you need and feel you want. i like economy in the yaris....so lighter is better. and with the yaris, i'm not so much into performance. i dont have ABS or tons of power....and the yaris can't break a 15 sec so performance or so traction isnt an issue isnt an issue. so to me, steelies and a 195 is the way to go.

[big lo]

That is a poor example, or you just have not looked hard enough. The weight difference is not nearly that extreme IF you get comparable wheels. Yes, good 15" wheels are 9lbs, but the cheap stuff is 12lbs or more. There are also 17" wheels that weigh 14lbs or less - hell the 18"s we raced on for the previous 5 seasons we 16lbs.

Surprisingly tire size does not change the weight nearly as much as wheels, the difference between a 15" and 17" tire may only be a 2lbs - this is using the same brand and same model of tire. As the diameter of the tire gets bigger, so does the hole in it, you will typically only see an increase in weight if the circumference or width of the tire is increased.

We tested this back to back on the track... A 5lb per corner weight increase (this was using identical size and offset wheels, both with the same exact tire, the only difference being a 5lb increase in wheel weight) varied between one and two tenths of a second slower per lap on a 45sec autocross course.

In the end smaller is lighter, but its not always the best performance package... For a street car, get what you like, and don't sweat a few pounds.

+1

[kelevra]

Not sure how it works with cars, but with bikes, less weight = less rotational mass = faster turn in..

[eTiMaGo]

Performance and race cars also usually have large wheels so they can fit in bigger brakes.

I went from heavy-ish 18" wheels with skinny lil 215/35 tires to 15" lightweight wheels with 195/50 tires last year, and it was a world of difference. I was afraid it would make the car feel less precise in a wobbly way, but not really. But, it's far more comfortable now, and the overall diameter is actually smaller (195/55's would be more or less equivalent to stock wheel diameter), so it gives a bit of an acceleration boost (at the expense of fuel economy, but due to the lighter weight, this is unchanged!). They just feel grippier too, but that could also be due to the tire compound too.

So yeah, for a car like this, small, lightweight wheels FTW :D

[Kaotic Lazagna]

I have two sets of 17's. One wheel and tire combo weighs 40.x lbs. The other combo weighs 37.x lbs. Cruising on the street doing 40 mph (throttle at 20%) in the first set gives me 36-38 mpg (mpg gauge on SGII). Cruising on the same street at the same mph at the same throttle % on the second set of 17's, I'm getting 55-60 mpg. First set is 17x7.5" with 205/40/17 tires and the second set is 17x7" with 205/40/17 tires.

I know it's not comparing two different size rims, but just food for thought.

[Maitre_Te_Te]

I have see Konig lightspeed 17X7 for 15.5 lbs

[big lo]

Some rims are less, I got 18's they weigh about 13lbs each the rim alone with the tires IDK

[Viperoni]

Since the difference between the weight of the smaller vs larger rim-diameter tires is very similar, and most of their weight is at the tread, they don't make much difference in terms of inertia.

However, because rims have a good bit of their weight in the hoop, and the larger the rim the further away from the center that weight goes, the more inertia the larger rim has.

My racing rims are 13x7.5 Lenso's and my street rims are 15x7 Motegi Traklite 2's :)

[TrashCan Monster]

nope.

small rims/tall tires - lightest

15 inch rims start at 9 lbs. I haven't seen 17s under 17 lbs. The tire difference with the two is maybe 2-3 lbs.

Just an example. Here are the wheel weights for a 17" ssr TYPE F 17x7.5 is 15.5lbs!
SSR Type F (http://www.ssr-wheels.com/wheels/wheelchart.asp?id=1&size_id=3&keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=500&width=700)

[SailDesign]

Just an example. Here are the wheel weights for a 17" ssr TYPE F 17x7.5 is 15.5lbs!
SSR Type F (http://www.ssr-wheels.com/wheels/wheelchart.asp?id=1&size_id=3&keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=500&width=700)

Yup, at close to $500 per corner. Lightness is expensive....

[rick996]

What is the weight of the 15 inch OEM steel wheels that come with the Yaris?

[dingbat]

Even if the tires are the same weight and the wheels are the same weight, the car should accelerate faster with the smaller wheel/taller tire combo because more of the wheel/tire weight is closer to the center.
Think figure-skater pulling their arms and leg in to speed up a spin.

[Edszuk]

Does anybody know the weight of the stock 15" rims. I saw someone else ask but didn't see an answer. Don't mean to reask but curious.

[Connoisseur_of_fine_cars]

I want to put 13" wheels from Tercel. Doable?

[ilikerice]

Does anybody know the weight of the stock 15" rims. I saw someone else ask but didn't see an answer. Don't mean to reask but curious.

I think I saw this in another thread. It was somewhere in the 15-17lbs. range. cant remember exactly