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For the S2000 and Elise, the difference is very subtle. If you're dealing with a car that is much more underpowered like a stock CRX or 1st gen Miata, then the difference may be more noticeable. I did not notice much of a difference between OEM, Mugen MF-10, or Spoon SW-388. It might be there, but my butt didn't notice it.
did i say i was tracking my 540? i was only doing everyday commuting and the difference was HUGE. again i'm speaking from personal experience, why dont you tell us what you've experienced personally?
I have experiances. But in the average day your weight will fluxuate about 10 pounds depending on water and what you eat. Do you notice the difference in your cars breaking or cornering?
Better take a good long piss before you hit the road!
Hypethetically speaking: Put 10 lbs on each corner of your car exactly even with your 540i exactly even with your tires and go drive to your local grocery store. Now take the weight off and drive back. Holy shit that was a huge difference, I don't think so. As I said before unless you are at the track, or maybe for you on the road driving like you are at the track, you will not notice the difference.
I've looked at this specifically with three sets of wheels.
OEM+Volk+BBS
I'll compare all 3 on S0-3's
We all know pretty well how the car feels on OEM wheels. It's nible, to say the least. The wheels are light the tires are relatively thin. But it's predictable and a great setup to learn on.
The Volks are a great wheel. With a 9" rear width they offer a very significant contact patch with a light wheel. The car retains that nimble feel yet sticks in corners much better than the OEM wheel. Straight line acceleration feels very similar to the OEM setup. I also run a Gendron bar on full stiff and could get the fronts to push in corners if I had the car weighted in a manner to do so. These Volks were a great setup which I would love to own as track wheels, they would be a dream with R compounds.
My LM's. The wheel I cannot part with. Everytime I begin to think of another wheel I come back to the LM. Easily one of the single most respected wheels in production. The build quality is excellent and the weight is... acceptable. They are not a light wheel. You can definately feel the difference in performance. They slow you down off the line. Plain and simple. However, once you are in the curves it's much different. The 8" front and 9.5" rear begins to shine and once you find a sane level of comfort with the wheels everything falls into place. Your ability to maintain speed increases through the corners and the addition of weight becomes a non-issue. Now could you get this with a lighter wheel? Of course, and that would be the preferable option.
Why do I still have the LM's? They are gorgeous. They perform in every manner I request of them. If I were to dedicate the car to the track I would opt for something much less attractive and more functional. I would take pride in driving around my track ready eye-sore. But, this car is not a track dog (yet). It's still my pretty garage queen and I want her looking just right while taking the occasional beating on the Dragon or at the track.
But in the average day your weight will fluxuate about 10 pounds depending on water and what you eat. Do you notice the difference in your cars breaking or cornering?
Import Sport - I love your wheels. I agree with you on everything you said but I think you are missing the point that I was trying to make. Most people on this forum want a race setup and spend rediculous amounts of money to get that and drive even spirited driving to the job or grocery store. I drifted mine on some corners and drove pretty hard sometimes but 90% of my driving was normal traffic driving around normal roads and only when I went to TWS (Texas World Speedway) did I ever say the wheels should be lighter. I think I am the majority whether anyone will admit it or not. Just my .02.
I may be wrong and at a gentle 70 mph turn you might notice the difference but I don't think so. Now there are a few autocrossers here that I would say hell yes take the weight out of as much as you can and pull the ac and everything else heavy out of the car to improve your weight. You also want to put slicks on and warm them up then see your lap times drop.
Weight becomes less of an issue at speed. It is however, quite important at low speeds and when coming off the line. I autocross my car and have never once done so on my LM's. It's always back to my OEM wheels for the AutoX. In that same respect I would much prefer to have the LM's for a day of HPDE.
But in the average day your weight will fluxuate about 10 pounds depending on water and what you eat.
Where did you get this information?
If you did not eat for a day you might lose three pounds, but that is a generous amount of food (1 lb per meal). You would have to lose seven pounds in water weight (3 1/2 qts.). Does not sound healthy to me.
I think a person would be hard pressed to vary by more than 5 lbs. in a day unless they weigh 500 lb. At which case they wouldn't be driving a 2800 lb car.
10-25-2005, 06:57 AM
