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Ron Stygar Carl Buckland Dale Beuning Forums Help
From digest.v6.n837 Wed Jul 2 08:25:42 1997 From: "Carl Buckland" <buckland_at_xmission.com> Date: Tue, 1 Jul 1997 11:57:51 +0000 Subject: Lightweight Wheels: A Summary I saw this on the Autocross Digest. It certainly is not definitive, but it does have some web sites that might be helpful. FYA, I have mounted the BBC RC's with 255/40/17's on my M3, and they DO make a difference that you can feel, over a heavier wheel. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: 30 Jun 97 17:48:42 Greetings all, I did some calling around to find the lightest wheel available in 17x10" for autocrossing. (Results may be applicable for other sizes.) Here is what I found, after a LOT of calling around: MFR MODEL WEIGHT COST (ea) SOURCE BBS RC * 17 lbs ** ---- Tire Rack
Complete ??? phone number 904-371-8493 was disconnected
Custom no new number given
Fikse FM/10 18.5 lbs $970 Fikse
Forgeline LS 18.2 lbs*** $461 NOPI HRE 555 19.5 lbs $670 Discount Tire Mackin Gewalt 23 lbs ** $359 Tire Rack Racing Hart Type C 21 lbs *** $470 DAZZ (or ZZAD?)
SSR Integral A2 21 lbs ** $408 Tire Rack,Source
SSR Mark 10 ** The Source Tecnomagnesio MT6B3 16.5 (est.) $792 Racer Wholesale
Lesson learned: If you want wide and light wheels, you will pay for them. It looks like the "custom" wheel manufacturers that more or less build to order, e.g.- Tecnomagnesion, HRE, Fikse, and Forgeline, are the best bets. Some of the Japanese mfrs that are beginning to be imported could give them some competition, but are not quite as light or available in quite as wide a wheel. (Also not as expensive.) Tire considerations: 17" tires weigh more than the 16" ones (duhhh). Since I am looking for 17" wheels, I wanted the lightest wheels to help compensate for the increased tire weight. I did not check the weights of the tires, so if you are looking for the lightest combination, then you will probably want to stick with the stock size wheel. My original goal was to get a 17" wheel and tire combination that have the same overall weight as the stock 16" combo. Since the stock RX-7 wheels are extremely light (16.5 - 17 lbs, I think), you can't touch that in the 17" aftermarket wheels and tires, at least in the width I want. So I am now just looking to minimize the weight. Tire Rack will mount and balance wheels and tires for free when purchased from them as a package, but no other discount. They will shave race tires for $15 a wheel. They will also sell the BFG R1s at Team/TA prices. This research was a major pain in the butt. I quickly eliminated the distributors who acted like I was crazy for asking how much a wheel weighed. ("Don't you just want it to look cool?") Thanks to those people for making my job easier. Tire Rack was very helpful, and I would buy from them if I decide on any of the wheels they carry. Great Web site, also. Here are the WWW sites:
BBS http://www.bbs-ag.com (??? worked only once)
Fikse http://www.fikse.com I am leaning towards the Tecnomagnesio for absolute lowest weight and the exact size. The second choice would be the Fikse wheels (don't really like the looks of the Forgelines), which would be a little heavier, but also are the exact size. The HREs are my third choice, to save a few bucks. The SSRs or Racing Harts would be my next choices for something a little more economical, but not quite the right size or really low weight. The Tecnomagnesio wheels are magnesium, as the name would imply. They said they make them in racing and street configurations with the street wheels being a little more reinforced and hence about 1/2 lb heavier. Anyone have any experience with these? They are supposed to not have the typical magnesium wheel "life limit" like other mag wheels. They are supposed to send me an information packet. I will post info if they look like they are worth it. Let me know if there are any other wheels I should be looking at.
Steve Cirian
TSSCC (Tri-State Sports Car Club)
RX-7: Lightning in a world of thunder
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