Noticeable Difference with Lighter Wheels?

[LatentWagen]

anyone want to buy carbon fiber wheels?

 

starting at $1000 a piece

 

Do I detect a bit of residual saltiness? No need to go CF, how about just a set of Volks, Enkeis, or SSRs? From spec B wheels they'll get you the same reduction in rotating mass shown in the above test

[Drift Motion]

that's actually a good price, assuming these are the Konisegg wheels?

 

nope, I've got sources to produce them. Koenigsegg isn't the only one, they are the first AFAIK

 

Do I detect a bit of residual saltiness? No need to go CF, how about just a set of Volks, Enkeis, or SSRs? From spec B wheels they'll get you the same reduction in rotating mass shown in the above test

 

no.

 

and CF wheels are way lighter than any volk/enkei/ssr wheels

 

We played with magnesium wheels for a while, but they tends to disintegrate too easily...

imagine curbing your wheels and it just disappears overnight.

[LatentWagen]

and CF wheels are way lighter than any volk/enkei/ssr wheels

 

You are 100% correct on that, carbon fiber is definitely lighter than metal. Not what I was getting at.

 

For the Mustang in the test:

61lbs went down to 46lbs for the front = 15lbs less RM

61lbs went down to 47lbs for the rear = 14lbs less RM

 

On my car, I've shaved an average of ~20lbs of rotating mass, per corner (includes rotors). Didn't have to buy CF wheels to achieve this!

[Darryn]

58lbs of rotating mass is almost exactly how much rotating mass I took off going from the stock spec B. wheels to the SSRs. More, if you count the 2pc rotors.

 

Point being, there is a huge difference in acceleration (and inertial mass, look at the 200ft coast difference) when you drop wheel weight, contrary to the all knowing general consensus. These tests were done on a street (lol, kinda) car, not a race car.

 

I will echo this, since I agree 100%. It was a similar story for me going from Spec B to SSR wheels. Interestingly enough, I am doing this switch every year since my Spec B wheels are now used for my winters. It still surprises me HOW much faster the car is every spring the day I switch to the summer wheels (I will restate too -- more noticeable than stock to stage 2 in terms of improvement to acceleration).

 

One question for you though, since I have also considered light weight rotors. How much difference was the incremental improvement of adding lightweight rotors vs. the obviously huge weight savings with the wheels? My front pads and rotors will probably both need replacement during the summer months, so this information would be very useful to me.

[LatentWagen]

I will echo this, since I agree 100%. It was a similar story for me going from Spec B to SSR wheels. Interestingly enough, I am doing this switch every year since my Spec B wheels are now used for my winters. It still surprises me HOW much faster the car is every spring the day I switch to the summer wheels (I will restate too -- more noticeable than stock to stage 2 in terms of improvement to acceleration).

 

One question for you though, since I have also considered light weight rotors. How much difference was the incremental improvement of adding lightweight rotors vs. the obviously huge weight savings with the wheels? My front pads and rotors will probably both need replacement during the summer months, so this information would be very useful to me.

 

The rotors were less noticeable, but this is all seat of the pants stuff, so take it with a grain of salt

I'm just guessing here, but the diminished effect could be because most of the weight savings was closer to the axis of rotation (axle/hub area), rather than out where the majority of a wheel's weight is (on the circumference of the wheel itself).

[Rhitter]

Switching from tiny Outback brakes to the larger + heavier LGT brakes there was a pretty noticeable difference in acceleration.

 

I think it would be noticeable.

[LatentWagen]

So, thinking about it a little more, my car went from stock LGT brakes and calipers to Brembos, with larger 2pc rotors in the front (less weight, but greater diameter), and larger and heavier rotors in the rear (greater weight and diameter). I probably couldn't tell the difference because of that offset. I think the calipers weigh about the same, all together... but that's unsprung, not rotational mass.