Trouble with wheels, will weight be a big factor?
 

Ok, so I am looking for new wheels on my RX-8 and I am having a really hard time deciding. Basically, what I am looking for is something that will shine, basically chrome or polished finish or something like that. A nice and clean design, not something with a bunch of spokes, maybe just a simple 5 or 6 spoke wheel, and then to finish it, something with a nice lip.

Now, from my last thread, I was looking at 19" Zenetti Stella's, 8.5 in the front and 9.5 in the rear with a 235/35/19 tire in the front and a 265/30/19 in the rear.

The question I have is will this really take away the performance and fun of the car. Stock wheel are 23lbs, and I have no idea how heavy these 19" Stella's are, but since they are chrome, I am guessing it will be a quite bit heavier.

How dramatically will this take away from the car's performance? Will I still be able to take corners with confidence? Will I still be able to accelerate like I do now etc etc. I love the "bling" factor but I want "bling" and performance. If anyone has any suggestions for a wheel that will give me both, let me know!

Here is a preview pic of the wheel on the car.

EDIT: I was able to do some research and find that the Stella's weight 32lbs, almost adding 10lbs extra from stock wheels.

if you want "bling", why did you buy a sports car. going with the larger, heavier wheel, you will lose acceleration, and handling will most likely suffer as well. also, going with the lower profile tires will adversly affect your ride quality and also run the risk of damaging your (if you get them) expensive chrome rims from hitting moderate defects and or potholes while driving.

Somewhere, I suppose, that look has some appeal. Around Boston I've seen such on SUVs in Roxbury, one of Boston's more quaint areas.

Functionally I would hazard a guess that the weight would quickly destroy your shocks, and likey your entire suspension eventually on any type of rough payment. Forget good acceleration and any thing remotely akin to sports car handling. But that's only a guess, as I've never seen anything quite like that ever tried.

Search and you'll find lots of info on reducing wheel weight and it effects. Turn that around for what you're looking to do I guess.

More weight is just more stress on your suspension. Read above threads, they have numerous articles saying how weight affects acceleration/cornering ability. Main reason I have my ssr comps they are only 16lbs :) looks good, but the ride handles are a lot more nimble, pickups easier, and feels like i've lost a passenger.

Unsprung weight = bad performance period eventhough most would not agree that it would affect performance that bad, but all would agree that it certainly doesn't help. You're putting on 40lbs extra unsprung weight and going up an inch in rotational diameter I think you will feel the difference because your car and suspension got to work harder to keep the wheels stable and to rotate it, not godd imo.

Get some forged wheels, with a chrome lip, those are better options just as light as stock but looks close to your chromes... Ultimately you can get the looks without the excessive weight, you just got to keep looking.

If you want "Bling" then try to find a wheel that is polished. They almost have the "bling" of chrome but 5-10 lbs lighter.

Yeh, I want to go with polished or something like ZoomZoom was saying, I was looking at HRE, DPE, iForged, etc etc and I love their 5 spoke with the fat lips, but $3500+ for wheels and tires is a lot. Is there anything else out there that I could get that will stay in around the $2500 price range with wheels and tires?

Also, going staggered, a 235 front and 265 rear, will this break down any kind of performance too? I will be adding an FI, but way later down the line (basically once warranty is out--2 1/2 years)

You can try adr cyphers in silver. Pretty good price nice looks too. 5 zigens are nice but a tad bit heavier than the stockers. ROJA makes a really nice wheel check them out, they are on sillygrl's car.

Going stagger would probably throw off your handling a lil bit thicker tires in the back would probably cause a slight understeer. Also you lose the benefit of rotating your tires. I think when the 350z changed for staggered to all around same width over handling improved enormously not to mention lap times etc...