mazdaexe

Just bought some 17s for track. Was hoping it would be lighter than stock
I was wrong..

Stock wheels w/ stock tires (not much thread left), 45 lbs
5zigen FN01RC, 17 x 9 w/ falken 615s (brand new) 255/40, 47lbs!!

Heres the suprise, I also have volks as my daily.
Volk TE37, 19 x 8.5, w/ Falken FK451 (around 10k miles), 245/35, 44lbs!!

Im a bit disappointed that my 17s weigh so much.. does the amount of thread left w/ the tires affect the weight? I guess it does? but are we talking about differences in oz or lbs?

oh, btw they are all measured on bathroom scale, they may not be the most accurate, but I dont think w/ an accurate scale would change the results.

thanx

Gord96BRG

The Falken Azenis RT-615 are heavy tires - not quite as heavy as the 215s were, but still at the heavy end of the range for any given size. I don't know how the FK451s are. Wheels vary greatly - you really gotta ask before you buy if one of your criteria is going to be less unsprung weight!

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

My Enkei 18 x 9.5 RP-F1 wheels from GoodWin Racing with shaved 265/35-18 Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 tires weigh 43 lb each

shaving might buy you 1 lb or so, maybe another 1 lb or so completely worn down, it depends on the size, amount of tread void, etc., figure maybe 1 - 2 lb max as a general reference new vs worn

17" wheels don't necessarily weigh less, it's a generalization not an absolute. It just depends on the wheel, the wheels you bought don't happen to be very light. You still have to buy a lightweight wheel to get the full advantage. That same size in an SSR Comp or Volk TE37 would probably weigh quite a bit less

rx8daniel

your OEM wheel/tire weight is about what I mine weighed when fairly new - IIRC mine were right around 44 LBS. I had 2 sets of 17" wheels for winter use; they weighed in the 19-20lb range which given the cost was decent.
If you do some research on tirerack, as an example, you'll find that tires in the same size (225/45-18, as an example) can vary as much as 4lbs per tire depending on brand and tire model.
Wheels vary even more.
I did some similar research for 17" wheels yesterday while watching football... was thinking maybe if I could get some lighter wheels w/215 tires I might be able to justify keeping the 8 instead of going w/ a Honda Civic Hybrid. 17" wheels will range in weight from about 15.4 lbs to probably over 22lbs. It's not always the most expensive , or well known, that weigh less. With a minimal effort you could probably get a $250 wheel and a $150 (estimates) that weigh together about 35 - 36 lbs. Get light weight (Zugen I think is what I have) lug nuts and you can save about 8-9 lbs per corner from OEM tire/wheel/lug nuts.
You'd have saved about 1 lb per wheel with a 8.5" wheel instead of 9" as well.

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

LOL, the OE lug nuts/locks weigh about 1 lb for all 20 of them, plus they're on a small radius, you might lose 5 or 6 oz if you're lucky

mazdaexe

my priority was to get some 255s on the wheels and save some tire money in the long run (17" wheels). of course, losing some unsprung weight would be nice.

the FN01RC wheel itself was like 19lbs, which is lighter than stock (I believe), I guess its just that the azenis 615s were kind of heavy.

however, even though the 17s weigh more, the car seems to be faster (butt dyno). I guess due to overall smaller wheel + tire, which changed the gear ratio a bit.

thanx people for the responses. :]

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

well they're larger than OE too, a 255 will generally weigh several pounds more than a 225

mazdaexe

yes. Im suprised how my 19" volks + 245 tires were still lighter than stock, but like you people said, different model/brand tires may weigh differently.

thanx