Will lighter wheels improve handling?

[TjP]

Theyre from my old car, so theyre only 16's unfortunately. Not sure if the would fit the ZS (cant remember too well but et15 or et25 comes to mind), but theyd look really small anyway I think.

[Dave ZS-X]

lighter wheels will improve handling ,acceleration and braking but you wouldnt really notice unless you have a track and timing gear.Also you need to stick with o.e sizes to gain anything ,going up to 18's will actually have a negative effect,although again you may not notice .
You can get pro race 1.2's very good price on e bay and they do make the exact same size ,offset etc you need for a perfect o.e fit.

Dave

[papa_lazaroo]

Lowering the weight of the sprung mass, ie the bits of the car suspended on it will improve handling more, but lighter wheels usually improve accel, and offer a tiny improvement over the car's weight causing it to understeer.

Can't say a few kg less in a set of wheels will help though, it'l be like running it with a full tank, and then noticing how much better it handles when 5 litres of fuel have been used up.

[RalphG]

Reducing the unsprung weight allows the suspension to work more efficiently as it is moving a smaller mass.

[Dave ZS-X]

unsprung weight saved is worth 3-4 times the equivalent weight saved of sprung weight.
So 2 kilos saved on each wheel is worth 24-32 kilos saved from the sprung weight of the car and that is a measurable amount .30 kilos weight reduction in a zs 180 will gain you one second a lap around a 2 mile race track.

Dave

[papa_lazaroo]

No it isn't Sprung mass adds to the amount of Body roll during adverse cornering, unsprung mass doesn't. the unsprung mass is in contact with the road, and dynamically seperated from the chassis by virtue of springs in each corner.

I have 18 years experience of Proving ground evaluation and believe me, a minor change in the sprung mass causes massive reactions compared to unsprung mass. Worst case in point being fluid movement of large fuel tanks during hard cornering.

[Dave ZS-X]

quote papalazaroo
"no it isnt"

What isnt what? lol

Dave