Tire/wheel weights

[TominMO]

Today I went out and weighed several tire/wheel combos, just out of curiosity. All the tires have good tread, so wear would be a minimal factor. Weights are with a bathroom scale. I weighed each tire three times to try to get consistency; averaged the weights and rounded up to the next pound, to allow for some wear.

TIRE SIZE......WHEEL SIZE*...WEIGHT...WHEEL WEIGHT
155/80x12.....12x4.5 S..........23..........11 (estimate)
155/80x13.....13x4.5 S..........26..........12
185/70x13.....13x5.5 A..........25..........10
185/60x14.....14x6.0 A..........30..........13

*S=steel, A=aluminum

I was surprised to see that there was only a 7-pound difference between the 12" steelie and the 14" aluminum tire/wheel! And that the aluminum 13" was lighter than the steel 13" with a narrower tire. The aluminum wheels are much thicker for strength, but even so aluminum wheels are still pretty light; more than I had expected. The 14" is my AR Estrella on Kittystiva; the 13" aluminum is the older AR (from Casper) now on the Aspire.

To get the wheel weights, I looked up what these tires weigh on Tire Rack, and subtracted tire weight from overall weight. Probably a good estimate. Couldn't find a weight for the 12" tho.

I also have a set of 13x4.5 aluminum factory Aspire rims. I didn't weigh one of them because the tires are bald, so it wouldn't have been such a good comparison. But I may anyway, and add it to this list.

If you want to add to it yourself with other sizes, feel free to cut and paste this list and add on to it.

[blkfordsedan]

My 323 Alloys with 175/50-13 Sumitomos feel like they weigh real close or just slightly more than the 12" steelies & 155/80R12's. Then again, the 323 Alloys are more of a solid center and pretty thick. Next time I have one off (hopefully to do a B6 swap in the next few weeks) I'll put it on my bathroom scale, although I suspect my scale is off. It says I weigh 219Lbs but according to my height, I'm supposed to weight 185Lbs! LOL

[TominMO]

Yeah, no doubt the scale is way off! Or to put it another way, you're too short for your weight.

Those must be the HTR200s. Tire Rack sez the tire weighs 14 lbs. The rim is prob 10 or 11, like my 13x5.5 is.

[TominMO]

Correction to the first post: 12" wheel is 12x4.0, not 4.5.

[TominMO]

Bump, for newbies....

[TominMO]

Mods, please move to the Suspension, Brakes and Wheels forum.

[Safety Guy]

The wheel weights that I can remember, along with method:

13 X 4.5" Aspire alloys: 13# (bath scale?)
13 X 5" Honda VX alloys: 9# (Cabela's fish scale)
13 X 5.5" VW alloys: 15# (bath scale)
13 X 5.5" AR Estrellas 12.5# (factory claim or bath scale)

14 X 6" Miata solid 7 spokes: 12# (Cabela's fish scale)

15 X 5.5" MINI "phone dials": 12# (Cabela's fish scale)

I did one tire type a few days ago, since I'm planning on going to 14" wheels for AquaMutt:

Kumho KH 16 185/60-14: 17#

The Miata wheels with Kumhos on them will weigh in around 29# each.

My goal for any of my tire/wheel combos will be to keep them at 30# or less.

Right now, IIRC, my 175/60-13 Falken Ziex 912s on the Estrellas weigh in at around 27# each.

(Somewhere in another thread within the past year I had posted some 12" steel and alloy wheel weights.)

Karl

[TominMO]

Consolidating the data:

TIRE SIZE......WHEEL SIZE*...WEIGHT...WHEEL WEIGHT/COMMENTS
no tire..........13x4.5 S.......................13 Aspire rim
no tire..........14x5.5 A.......................15 Capri rim
155/80x12.....12x4.0 S..........23..........11 (estimate)
155/80x13.....13x4.5 S..........26..........12
185/70x13.....13x5.5 A..........25..........10 AR old rim
185/60x14.....14x6.0 A..........30..........14 AR Estrella rim
155/80x13 ....13x4.5 A..........28..........13 Firestone Winterforce on Aspire factory aluminum rims

*S=steel, A=aluminum

[mikeyjd]

In Search Of: the lightest 14" 4 bolt pattern rims I can get my hands on ^ suggestions?

[sketchman]

Konig lightnings are good aftermarket 14s.

I think the Miatas with the hollow spokes beat them pretty badly, though.

Really, though, if you went to some LIGHT 15x6.5 and stretched some 165s over them, you might end up better off overall.

For instance the Konig Feather at 15x6.5 is an advertised 11.9 lbs. That's the same as my 14" Lightnings and you would use less tire to keep the same overall diameter, so it "should" end up lighter.

[mikeyjd]

Konig lightnings are good aftermarket 14s.

I think the Miatas with the hollow spokes beat them pretty badly, though.

Really, though, if you went to some LIGHT 15x6.5 and stretched some 165s over them, you might end up better off overall.

For instance the Konig Feather at 15x6.5 is an advertised 11.9 lbs. That's the same as my 14" Lightnings and you would use less tire to keep the same overall diameter, so it "should" end up lighter.

These?

BBS OEM Alloy ('92, '93 LE) 14" x 6" about 9 lbs

Whats a good price if I do find them? Are they rare? The reason I need such a wheel is for a very specific tire http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...65&diameter=14

[mikeyjd]

hmmmmmm what about space savers with moon caps?

[mikeyjd]

hmmmmmm what about space savers with moon caps?

do you think moon caps would attach to a space saver?

[TominMO]

These?

BBS OEM Alloy ('92, '93 LE) 14" x 6" about 9 lbs

Whats a good price if I do find them? Are they rare? The reason I need such a wheel is for a very specific tire http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...65&diameter=14

Miata daisies would be really cheap, and probably light enuf for your needs.

[Advancedynamix]

Side note. Alloy space saver spares for a 1986-89 rx7 base model are made by enkei, they are 15" and very light weight. They are also a direct bolt on to a Festiva (4x114.3). I'll try to get an actual weight with spare tire next week.