AH1H

I've been doing a lot of searching but I havent quite been able to find the exact answers I'm looking for. First of all, I don't own an Evo yet but before too long, I plan on it. I'm looking at a manual GSR (I want the more sporty edition) and most likely whichever is the current Evo on the market at the time I'll go ahead and buy (whether that's the X or the eventual XI, I don't know).

So anyway, I know the big thing when first buying cars is to just keep them stock for a while and get used to them. To tell you the truth, that's a good idea. But I've already been modding my current car, so I feel like jumping into the mods asap when I get my Evo. For my very first mod, I was actually thinking about swapping out the stock wheels for lighter aftermarket ones. Now, I don't know a whole lot about wheels and how the different sizes work, but I just want to try and get a set that's going to be noticeabley lighter than stock. Something ultra-light, yet strong enough to hold up to the pressures of daily driving, yet something that's not going to absolutey destroy my bank account.


Can you guys recommend to me what the best plan of attack is for wanting to do something like this? Where would be a good place to look through different options (like a good site)? I don't know what stock wheels weigh, but I think I'd hope to get at least 5 lbs off per wheel. Like say the stock wheels come 20 lbs a piece, I'd like to shoot for something in the 13-15 lbs range, if that's at all possible.

My two primary usages for my car will be 1) Daily driver (but don't let that fool you because I really want to put some work into it over time and mod it up nicely; it's a passion) 2) Take it to the drag strip on the weekends and eventually shoot for sub-12s times if possible.

But yeah, of everything, my first mods planned are the wheels. I want something ultra-light that'll (alone) really increase my get up and go. From there, who knows. But wheels are my #1 interest at this point.

digitalskillz

Lighter wheels are just another thing to do in a list of performance upgrades.
Most people start with intake and tune, as that's going to make the biggest initial difference in the "get up and go".

Lightweight wheels, are nice but not going to make much difference to the feel of the car.

But if you have your heart set on your first mod shaving unsprung weight from wheels:

Strong, Light, Cheap: pick 2.
But finding a 13-15LB wheel is going to be tough. There's not many unless you are going smaller than stock. And that would be bad for drag racing.

You can look at what some of the other drag racers have gone with though. Bushur and AMS have quick cars.

CosmotheJTAC

Check the sponsor. They pretty much have all the details you'll need. Don't think you'll be able to reach 13-15 though.

http://www.tirerack.com/index.jsp

dangle

iTrader: (1)

For starters stock wheels aren't that heavy. Get it out of your head right now that you will find a wheels that weighs 13-15 lbs each in the size most Evos will be fitted with. A more realistic weight is 16-20lbs per wheel (16 being really light and 20 being light). If those numbers seem high to you then it's because what you're driving right now has tiny wheels. For an Evo X a good size wheel is 18x9.5 or 18x10. The question you have to ask yourself is what are you going to use the car for? This will play a major roll on wheel width and tire selection. The Xs really didn't come with great tires so that alone can get you a better handling Evo. At the moment enkei rpf1's are the best bang for the buck. They are just as light as forged wheels but a quarter of the price. Anyone you ask here will give you different opinions because people use their car for different reasons. For me I like to swap out my wheels and suspension before I mod my car for power.


Edit: I just read you intend to drag race so disregard the width I told you as those are for handling. Stock are 18x9 and I wouldn't go wider for drag racing.

SamsonEvoX

^ Stock Enkei GSR wheels are 8.5" wide, not 9". They weigh 22 pounds. My son just got Enkei RPF1 wheels that weigh about 18 pounds for a 9.5" width. Best bang for the buck. The OP will never, ever find reasonably priced wheels that weigh 13-15 pounds in an 18" size. He might be able to get some 17" Motegi wheels that are in that weight range however. Dropping weight on these cars is not easy. Lighter header, downpipe, test pipe and exhaust will reduce some weight. Brakes like Girodisc will reduce weight, but are spendy. I wish there was a simple way to radically drop weight, but it doesn't exist short of removing the seats except for the driver's and removing the crash beams. A lighter battery helps too.

As was mentioned, the get up and go will come from a turbo back, boost controller, intake larger intercooler/piping with the stock turbo. You will definitely feel the difference. I have a stock Evo GSR and my son's Evo GSR with the above mentioned mods just runs away and hides from mine.

humpevo311

iTrader: (4)

It was funny GRM did a test on a miata (no power) with lighter wheels and the car with heavier wheels actually turned better lap times lol. Obviously getting weight off a car regardless of its location is generally a positive in the form of performance gain, but it's expense vs. gain ratio often falls short. Plus sometimes durability is sacrificed in cheaper "light" wheels.

Smike

iTrader: (8)

GRM does ****ty articles. I think they lack science/engineering understanding most of the time.

I had 3 sets on my old race car (momentum car). Dry set was on -4lb lighter assemblies (w/tire). Not much difference. Little more responsive turn in. Otherwise, no difference in times from my rain set on the OEM wheels.

AH1H

Thanks for all the replys! About the 13-15 lbs thing, I was just throwing out a number based on what I currently drive, but I'd probably shoot for the 16-18 lbs range based on what you guys have said.

I dont care a whole bunch about trimming weight in general from the car. Yeah, I want to be as light as possible while still being a solid daily driver, but my main concern is just lightening the weight from the wheels themselves so they'll accelerate/decelerate faster.

But otherwise, I want to save my money for a bigger turbo kit. Speaking of which, I can't name a specific one off the top of my head, but do the kits in the $3-$6k range come with basically everything that's needed in order to put the new turbo on and make it work? I mean, after I pay $5k for a new turbo kit, I hope I don't have to drop another $2-3k on other stuff that doesn't come with the kit, just to to make the kit itself work.

Speaking of the turbo kit, if I were to start with the intake/full exhaust/tune.... would those things afftect (or be a waste) if I plan on eventually buying an upgraded turbo kit? In other words, should I just save my money and spend it all at once on the $5k turbo kit? I can't say for sure, but I clicked on a link someone posted on this site that sold turbo kits for around the $5k range, and one of them was the GT40R turbo kit. I heard that thing was monsterous! Like 900 whp potential. Would that be a good turbo to look into right away? Or is that $5k GT40R turbo just the tip of a more expensive iceberg? Because if I could buy a GT40R for $5k and it all worked for just that...... that'd would be sweet!


Random: I'll also for sure upgrade my engine mounts to the stiff race ones to keep my engine from pitching and rolling during hard acceleration. But all in all, I figured a sweet pair of wheels would be a nice place to start.

Optiblue

iTrader: (5)

My first mod was to get heavier wheels lol

digitalskillz

AH1H,

Again, I question your
"my main concern is just lightening the weight from the wheels themselves so they'll accelerate/ decelerate faster."
idea.
What makes a car accelerate faster primarily is more torque and less overall weight. Shaving weight from rotating mass removes overall weight and has the added benefit of making it easier for things to turn sure, but I don't think the gains from shaving a few pounds off of the GSR wheel's stock weight, or the MR's already lighter wheels, will produce the kind of results it seems you are envisioning.
0 to 60 times or 1/4 mile times are not going to show hardly any improvements.

Hope that helps. To each their own though. Do what makes you happy.

digitalskillz

Some real world tests with lighter wheels not doing anything, in fact the opposite.

http://www.modified.com/tech/modp-09...t/viewall.html

A 17.4lb Volk RE30 and 18.4lb SSR Type-F both had slower times than a 20.3lb AME TM02 and a 20.8lb 5Zigen FN01R-C (same tire, driver, track, and day).

menasor

I think wheel design has something to do with lap times too, not just weight. That comparison is pretty eye opening

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

If the car will only be used for DD and drag, then I, personally, would plan this out for the long term and get smaller brakes. Then you can run 15" or 16" wheels.

MonacoGP

+1

Vostok 7

iTrader: (13)

Mmmmm wheel flex.

Enkei RPF1s are about the lightest wheel you are going to find in an Evo-friendly size, and they aren't crazy expensive either.