GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Does anybody know how much the OEM 17in wheels weight without tires????

My Guess is about 25 lbs. The rim/tire is around 48 lbs. and a 215-50-17 tire about 23 lbs. Fancy math!

Good god! that's heavy!I wonder what kind of diff a set of Magnesium 17" would make on launch times in a GT.

Quote, originally posted by ALi3N »Good god! that's heavy!I wonder what kind of diff a set of Magnesium 17" would make on launch times in a GT. It might not make much difference in launch times but lighter wheels can have a huge effect on handling. There is less weight bouncing up and down etc. and the shocks and springs have less work to do.

Sunny is right. You must consider that this is rotational mass we are talking about. Of course, this is just a Vibe so I'll stick with the wheels that look the best (and for a decent price). Check out this thread for some interesting calculations/discussions.http://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/1032814.phtmlDamon

We're not talking overall weight. We're talking rotating mass weight! Lighter is better. But becareful not to substitute lightness for reliability!Some lightwieght wheels will bend quite easily!

You're partly right, Salsa. 40-50 pounds isn't a lot of weight inside a Vibe, but wheels are different. First, as Sunny says, they are "unsprung weight" which means a lot in terms of keeping the tires in close contact over bumps. Lighter assembies handle and ride much better. Second, wheel/tire mass has to be accelerated and braked both in translation (moving down the road) and in rotation The energy to accelerate or stop a rolling wheel is at least twice as much as if it was lying in the cargo bay. Of couse even an effective 100 pounds isn't huge, but it is enough to feel.