Hi, I'm checking out/dreaming of new wheels but how do you know when a wheel is too light? I saw some Enkei's that were around 13 pounds. Will a lightweight wheel hold up to daily driving or worse yet springtime pot holes? I'm running the stock 16s now. Thanks for any input.

 

When they start floating away

The Fit is a pretty light car, I do have issues with traction in the snow and starting off... lighter wheels probably wouldn't help that. There is a local guy here that runs 9.5lbs wheels, no real issues.

As far as a wheel holding up... is totally based on construction. A forged wheel will hold up better than a cast one. But all wheels have limits, odds are if you are going to bend a lip it won't matter what kind of wheel or how much it weighs.

 

lighter wheels will reduce the rotational mass. unsprung weight. theres only benefits.

theres hundreds if not thousands of people rockin rpf1's, sw388's, konig helium's etc etc every day

 

not true. cast wheels bend. forged wheels shatter.

 

but at the point where itll get damaged like that, it doesnt really matter what wheel you are using

 

i'm curious to know what it is that will ruin even a cast wheel.
i dont auto x or launch my fit ever so i cant imagine it happening.
unless im rocking some defect rotas maybe?

unfortunately companies charge far out the ass for forged, so its not a possibility for me.

 

well, it takes more force to shatter a forged wheel than it does to bend a cast wheel. and the shitty thing of it is, you could bend a cast wheel and it will become deformed and you wont even notice it. you will lose fuel economy, acceleration and handling.

 

Hitting a bad pot hole with a 8.5 lb SSR Type C it bent and didn't shatter.

But I will tell you if you can shed 5-8 lbs a wheel, you can really feel it, improves all performance aspects

 

i believe ssr's are semi solid forged which is different process than a solid forge.

 

i've been trying to do my homework on konig's and it seems they are pretty light, but i've yet to hear about any bendage stories. none the less they are still cast.
it seems if you buy a light forged wheel the first time you'll save yourself the worry of a cheap cast wheels damage to your car?

 

sigh. unless you routinely drive into curbs at 60mph, you wont have a problem with whatever rim you use

 

i've got a volk se37a collecting spiderwebs and dirt in my backyard with a bent lip, and that's a forged wheel no?

 

True if you hit something hard enuff it wont matter what kind it is some, times softer cheaper wheels can be bent or pressed back into shape. I always read that a forged wheel would have a greater resistance to bending. If you are really concerned about bending a wheel then buy a 3 peice wheel and replace the section thats damaged, givin you dont have a ultra rare discontinued set.

 

When they're made of carbon fiber, are mighty expensive, and shatter.

 

Tomato Tom(aah)to

Whether it bends or shatters it is still f-cked up The point was the weight of the wheel isn't going to play a huge part in saving it.

 

ive had SSR Comps on my other car years ago that weighed 11.5lbs 16x7.5's.
there are cons for lighter weight... it's harder for the tire shop to balance it
correctly for some reason. TRack did a great job, but my local tire stores had
a hard time. They used the same series hunter roadforce too... not sure why.

the heavier wheels are more tolerant to slight changes in
weight so most places can balance them well.

 

not true. when i brought in my volks to be mounted, the tire shop were praising my wheels because they were already so well balanced from the factory that i only needed a single sticky weight on it. the balance from a new wheel doesnt depend on weight, it depends on the extent of density tests done at the factory to the block of billet the wheels are forged from.

 

Cheap wheels are the casted ones. They are heavy for their sizes compared to a Volk or a legitimate forged brand. Also, cast wheels are soft, thus bend easily. Sometimes you can only find the bends when you have the tires removed. Cheap wheels have a ton of sticky weights on them.

 

wheels should only need one sticky weight

 

you would be surprised. some wheels (esp older cast wheels) will need almost 3oz of weights. ive seen it. my mugens needed 1.5oz of weights where as my volks only needed .25oz. every wheel is different inside and out. GOOD wheels should only need one weight but not all wheels are made equal