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Thread: Alternative light-weight 15-inch wheels

  1. #11
    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Upon taking Top Fuel's advice, I read an article on Tire Rack about wheel weight.

    Wheel Tech: Road Wheel Weights Can Affect Your Vehicle's Show...& Go!

    They tested three different sets of wheels on some BMW 3 series cars, each fitted with different tires. While the wheel weights didn't vary as dramatically as the Hot Rod magazine article, they also used three different cars instead of using the same car. The differences in fuel consumption were there, but I suspect could also be influenced by other factors. In the Tire Rack example, the stock configuration had the lowest fuel consumption. The 'lightweight' combination used more fuel.

    Quote Originally Posted by Tire Rack Wheel Tech: Road Wheel Weights Can Affect Your Vehicle's Show...& Go!
    Vehicle Combination Weight Avg. Speed Avg. mpg
    BMW 3 Series equipped with Original Equipment (16") Stock 42.5 lbs 38.7 22.8
    BMW 3 Series equipped with Plus One (17") Lightweight 38.5 lbs 39.0 21.5
    BMW 3 Series equipped with Plus One (17") Heavyweight 48.5 lbs 38.8 21.1



        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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  3. #12
    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    The lightest wheel/tire combination in the Tire Rack test had the best handling and lap time (which would be expected), but it didn't beat the fuel economy of the stock wheel/tire. That seems odd...but notice the tires used in the test.

    Only the stock tires were Low Rolling Resistance. When they tested lighter 17" wheels, they also changed to wider, non-low rolling resistance performance tires.

    This test may help illustrate another point: Don't underestimate the impact of using LRR tires. Dropping weight off the wheels didn't appear to offset the loss of fuel mileage from wider, regular tires. I would think the mileage would have improved if they could have matched the lighter 17" wheel with a LRR tire. That would have been interesting.

    People have the same issue running 16" wheels on a Mirage. I don't think there's a LRR tire that will work. Even wider 15" tires are a problem. I don't think there's such a thing as a 195-50-15 LRR tire.

    And some of the wider 15"-16" tires out there weigh 5-7 pounds more than a stock Enasave. The weight of the tire is even more important than the weight of the wheel...as it takes more energy to rotate a mass as it moves away from the axis of the rotation.

    If maintaining maximum fuel mileage is important, run a light wheel if you can. But don't forget to match it with a quality (and hopefully lightweight) LRR tire.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


  4. #13
    Senior Member Dark Magenta's Avatar
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    Has anyone here done any research on those 15x4 i-MiEV wheels? Specificallly their weight and the availability or feasibility/practicality of their 145/65-15 tires?
    (Sorry if I missed something obvious, this is my first week here.)

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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Hello Dark Magenta and welcome to the forum.

    I looked into the i-Miev wheels for use on the Mirage. It looks like they would fit and might even improve on fuel economy - at least I would expect that to be the case.

    Problem is that those cars are even more rare than the Mirage here in North America, so those alloy rims would be hard to find, and so would replacement tires.

    Interesting question. What do you have in mind?

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


  6. #15
    Senior Member Dark Magenta's Avatar
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    What do I have in mind? Lighter weight. Better MPG. Bonus would be that it looks like they would be closer to flush. I've only had this for a week, but so far I don't mind the skinny tires. These would be skinnier...all the better for rain (and snow if I don't decide to keep the steels for snow tires later).

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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Keep in mind that i-Miev wheels are different sizes from front to back.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


  8. #17
    Senior Member Dark Magenta's Avatar
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    Looks like it's also RWD which might explain 4" wide front and 5" wide rear, similar to the Smart. Any reason to not use 4 fronts and 145/65-15, or use the rears on the front with 175/60-15 (or skinnier)?

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    Moderator Eggman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Magenta View Post
    Looks like it's also RWD which might explain 4" wide front and 5" wide rear, similar to the Smart. Any reason to not use 4 fronts and 145/65-15, or use the rears on the front with 175/60-15 (or skinnier)?
    All good questions! Let us know if you find any because I'm pretty sure you would be the first.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)


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    I was wandering around the RS Watanabe website to check out a set of wheels for fun, I found two wheel designs. The first one is an F8F with a measurement of 15" x 5.5" and a +40 offset.
    The second option is a New RS8 (15" x 5" with a +40 offset) I posted on the other post.

    The only elephant in the room is the price tag. A single F8F cost 41,000 yen ($496.20 CDN), while the New RS8 (as a two-piece wheel design) cost 43,000 yen ($520.50 CDN) per wheel.

    Any thoughts about those wheels?

  11. #20
    Senior Member Dark Magenta's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    All good questions! Let us know if you find any because I'm pretty sure you would be the first.
    Name:  Screenshot_2019-02-09-08-49-57.jpg
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Size:  102.3 KB ...not that I'll be affording them any time soon...



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