My project is starting to take shape, and I'm going to need to buy wheels soon. I really like the idea of steel wheels painted body color with dog dish hub caps, but I know that they are a ton heavier then a set of aftermarket aluminum wheels.
Has anyone ever back to back tested steel wheels vs. aluminum wheels improvements? I know all of the rules of thumb, rotating weight is 3 times static, 100 pounds is ~ 0.10 etc. . .but who's tested it in real life here. I'm specifically asking for 10.50~11.00 cars, but I'll take any info you guys have.
Thanks!
Anybody ever tested back to back steel wheels vs. aluminum?
Moderator: Team
Don't know the brands,as they weren't mine. But the alloy ones were seven-spoke,2-piece BBS (I think) and the steel ones were stock of a Mustang (?) (but widened) from what I heard,early 90's... I have heard some of the track-addicted friends I have talk about weighing all the rims they could find for their cars,and in most tests the simple steel rims weighed less... The alloy wheels had so much more material that it more than made up for the lighter alloy.. Only alloy wheels that were lighter in their tests,were the forged ones and some billets (and the mag ones), I guess they cost more for a reason.. 
-Bjørn
"Impossible? Nah...just needs more development time"
"Impossible? Nah...just needs more development time"
Years ago when the super tricks first appeared, a friend switched his super-stocker over from Cragar S/S wheels. Running on the ragged edge of his class weight, he had to add ballast to bring the car's weight back. I still thought the lighter wheels would help, but on that particular car, there was no measurable difference.in ET. (small CI stick car)
It really depends on the wheels.
Cast aluminium wheels suitable for unlimited street use will usually be no lighter than steel wheels, and are often actually heavier. But the heavier aluminuim wheels will take a lot of abuse from hitting curbs, running with flat tyre and so on. And they will do hundreds of thousands of miles without cracks or fatigue when fitted to a heavy car.
But if you are talking about genuine RACE wheels, that is a whole different ballgame. They will be much lighter, but also more fragile, and would probably not last long at all on a heavy daily driven city car.
It is the old story, many short life very high performance parts are simply unsuitable for a practical street car.
Cast aluminium wheels suitable for unlimited street use will usually be no lighter than steel wheels, and are often actually heavier. But the heavier aluminuim wheels will take a lot of abuse from hitting curbs, running with flat tyre and so on. And they will do hundreds of thousands of miles without cracks or fatigue when fitted to a heavy car.
But if you are talking about genuine RACE wheels, that is a whole different ballgame. They will be much lighter, but also more fragile, and would probably not last long at all on a heavy daily driven city car.
It is the old story, many short life very high performance parts are simply unsuitable for a practical street car.
Cheers, Tony.
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trikesrule
Want to really muddy up the waters?...you also have to consider the moment of inertia for the wheels vs actual weight....from an overall performance stand point of handling and acceleration, lighter is alway better, however for that to always be true the wheel being considered must have both the lightest total weight AND the lowest moment of inertia...the problem is most wheel manufacturers don't have any idea what the MOI is for their product....kind of makes you go Hmmmm, don't it...
PF
PF
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trikesrule