Hirudin

Welp, I wanted to buy some new wheels so I searched and searched the internet trying to find the lightest available. According to my scale the stock Evo X BBS wheels are 20.8 lbs. so that was the weight I was trying to beat. After much searching I found the WedsSport TC105N wheels which are advertised everywhere I've seen as being "16.5 lbs."...

...
I gotta go, so I'll just post the pictures and come back in a bit. Why are wheel manufacturers allowed to lie about the weight of their wheels?

Ladogaboy

iTrader: (1)

Good to know. This is one of the wheels I was considering getting. The only thing I can think is either a) the retailer was misinformed or b) there might be another wheel in that size (maybe a different offset) that is .5 lbs lighter.

lannym

Any pics on the car? That's still pretty freakin light....

RavSpec

iTrader: (80)

Strange, I weighted some of the TC105n and they are pretty dead on.

This is the 17x9 spec showing on the site at 15.7 lbs and I weight them today, pretty dead on.

Hirudin

I plan to weigh the other three wheels tonight to see how much they vary...

I confirmed that this wheel is indeed the right size: 18x8.5 32 offset. That is to say: those numbers are stamped on the inside of the hub. I suppose there's a slight possibility that the stamps are wrong.

http://wedssportwheels.com/TC_105N.php

I've seen this before. I used to own a Mazdaspeed 3 and I put some Motegi Traklites on it. The manufacturer claimed they weighed 14.7 lbs. but my scale said they weighed 15.15 lbs. (A clever person could use this information to find the forum on which I posted this information (11-15-2007).)

I got them at 5:50 pm on Friday and the tire store I use closes at 6:00 so I haven't got them on yet. I'll have to think about whether I want to keep them at this point. :/

That is interesting. Apparently they get it right sometimes. I'm not saying I have the most awesome scales in the universe or anything, but I think what I have are pretty accurate. I've owned the Royal for several years and it has always been within a tenth of a pound of the UPS/FedEx scales when I ship stuff. For what it's worth I also put my 2 kg. test weight on it and it read it as 4.40 lbs. (the Royal only resolves to twentieths of a pound). The Tree scale is brand new and is suppose to be accurate down to a tenth of a gram (0.0002 of a pound = two tenthousandths).
Here's a couple more pics of WedsSport wheels being heavier than the manufacturer advertises...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wheelst...n/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wheelst...n/photostream/

Hirudin

I weighed my other three, they were all very close to 17.23 lbs.

andy5notarobot

Not every scale reads the same, Maybe yours need recalibrating, or maybe the other way around. I don't think .8 of a pound is worth saying "OMFG LIARS!"

Hirudin

But lying about the weights of wheels seems to be endemic in the industry. I find it to be annoying personally. The weight is off 4%. No that's not worth getting in a tizzy about (I don't think I have) but it is worth noting.

Let me put it this way. The question should be: if the manufacturer had told the truth about the wheels would I still have bought them? Probably not.

I took a quick picture, I might take a couple more and post them in the near future. I didn't like the look at first glance, but they're already growing on me.

tkromer

iTrader: (6)

They're simple and functional, I like that. You don't need 10.5" wide rims with a +5 offset to drive properly and I think you know that. Therefore these are some of the best rims you can get.

stEVOrgiX

I like them personally but they didn't fit my theme. They are beautiful wheels IMO. I wouldn't fuss over ~1 lbs seeing as how those are lighter than the rims I got. I definitely was looking for as light a rim as I could find and one that fit in with my theme and ended up getting a 18.5 lbs rim. 17.3 is damn good. Sexy *** pics bro. I for one am jealous of your car.

Hirudin

Thanks!!

sstevojr

iTrader: (7)

So someone sprayed an extra layer of clear coat
Go on a diet

bluedub1

iTrader: (1)

Maybe their wheels are 16.5 lbs ± 1 lbs


Are the wheels cast?

RavSpec

iTrader: (80)

These wheels are cast.

I think i know why.

WEDS make two different offset on the 18x8.5 width.

+43mm and +32mm

+43mm is the lighter one due to less mounting pads material (16.5 lbs)
+32mm is a bit heavier due to the extra 9mm spaces.

Mark.
RavSpec

Hirudin

Yes, of course some scales will read differently than others. That is because some sales are accurate and some are inaccurate. My scale is accurate.

Here it is with 10,000 grams of test weights on it. It's off by 0.9 grams. To put it another way: it's off by 9-thousandths of one percent. WedsSport's advertised weight is off by ~4.4%.
Also attached is a picture with a 20 gram test weight. As you can see, it's measuring that precisely as well.

I think it's worth noting that the scale hasn't been calibrated for a few days. It's possible it's still on the same calibration as it was when I weighed the wheels. I imagine a simple difference in temperature between when it was calibrated and now could account for a portion of the inaccuracy.

My point is: "hey bro, scales are like different and stuff" doesn't explain the gross discrepancy between what WedsSport advertises and reality.