[unogiallo]

Just swapped my 18 inch turbine wheels back to the 16 inch Lusso95 wheels and thought I'd weigh them both.
16 inch weigh around seventeen kilos and the 18s a massive 23.5 kilos.

I did notice a drop in performance and about 4 mpg less when I originally fitted the 18s.

Still the 18s will be going on my new 135 coming shortly, but maybe some light weight OZ 18s would be a better option.

 

[wo0dy]

OZ wheels are nice, but have a price tag to match 1300-1500 for 18's

 

[bushedout]

thanks for that i was thinking of getting some 18"'s but that is another good reason not to.unspung weight and all that.

 

[Guest]

Just swapped my 18 inch turbine wheels back to the 16 inch Lusso95 wheels and thought I'd weigh them both.
16 inch weigh around seventeen kilos and the 18s a massive 23.5 kilos.

I did notice a drop in performance and about 4 mpg less when I originally fitted the 18s.

Still the 18s will be going on my new 135 coming shortly, but maybe some light weight OZ 18s would be a better option.

So around 24ish kg causes a drop in performance and 4 mpg less? Ok so i get the tyres will be wider and thus create more friction but I have my doubts on the difference...The car weights 1040 Kilos so in the scheme of things thats not that great a change.

.....more likely to be things like the weather, driving style, tyre pressure etc. I'm guessing that you changed the wheels to larger sizes early on in ownership and probably drive the car harder as its older? I can't tell any real difference in performance or mpg when using 16"s, 17"s or 18"s.

Still, could be wrong though

 

[unogiallo]

That 95 has gone now. I changed the wheels back to the original 16s a couple of weeks before I got rid of it. Fuel consumption was certainly a fair bit better with the 16s, but if I'm honest I couldn't really tell any difference in the performance - or lack of performance being that it was a 95

 

[ssteinberg]

So around 24ish kg causes a drop in performance and 4 mpg less? Ok so i get the tyres will be wider and thus create more friction but I have my doubts on the difference...The car weights 1040 Kilos so in the scheme of things thats not that great a change.

.....more likely to be things like the weather, driving style, tyre pressure etc. I'm guessing that you changed the wheels to larger sizes early on in ownership and probably drive the car harder as its older? I can't tell any real difference in performance or mpg when using 16"s, 17"s or 18"s.

Still, could be wrong though

I doubt it really did affect mpg that much, nonetheless car/wheel weight ratio is not a good argument. Wheels are unsprung AND rotatory mass, every Kg effects performance much more then body weight.

 

[gleggzer]

Just swapped my 18 inch turbine wheels back to the 16 inch Lusso95 wheels and thought I'd weigh them both.
16 inch weigh around seventeen kilos and the 18s a massive 23.5 kilos.

I did notice a drop in performance and about 4 mpg less when I originally fitted the 18s.

Still the 18s will be going on my new 135 coming shortly, but maybe some light weight OZ 18s would be a better option.

Stick to Alfa wheels i always think aftermarket wheels just dont look right..IMO

Andy

 

[Guest]

Altering wheel size is also affecting the gearing of the car so larger wheels will affect mpg and performance.

2 inch's isn't a massive difference (as i keep telling the wife) but it is a difference.

 

[Moultoneer]

Altering wheel size is also affecting the gearing of the car so larger wheels will affect mpg and performance.

2 inch's isn't a massive difference (as i keep telling the wife) but it is a difference.

Ah, but larger wheels are normally fitted with lower profile tyres, so the gearing shouldn't
change much (also, bigger tyres would reduce clearances and risk rubbing the arches :tut

Personally I really like the Lusso wheels and their sensible-profile tyres, so I've never
been tempted to change. That they're also light is a nice bonus :thumbs:


Chris

 

[andypj]

The problem with wheels is that the engine has to turn them as well as move them! The lower profile tyres are much heavier too so the whole wheel tyre combo makes a big difference. In cycling they reckon that saving weight on the wheels is worth twice anywhere else! I was looking at 205 section tyres instead of 215's for my 17' Veloce wheels. They are almost 1kg lighter each! less cross section, less rolling resistance, slightly smaller more acceleration? more mpg?

 

[Oggy_GTA]

The biggest difference will be to handling - less unsprung weight. Mitos feel very different between Veloces and Lussos. Lussos "feel" much lighter and more nimble, and I'd say this is entirely down to the wheel/tyre combo.

 

[pookie]

i prefer the design of the lusso wheels, they look a bit ferrari-esq, i thought i was the only alfa owner who didn't like the style of the 'teledial' alloys, they look like a sod to clean as well

 

[vorsprung]

i prefer the design of the lusso wheels

agree there

i like how alfa sneakily photoshopped enlarged lower-profile versions of the lusso alloys onto one of their mito advert billboards a few months back (the one with a blackish/green looking mito with lightning behind)

i fell for it - i even looked on the alfa accessories website to see if they'd brought out the lusso alloys in 17" or 18"

what do you mean by the 'teledial' alloys? the traditional alfa ones or the turbine ones on QVs?

 

[pookie]

i mean the veloce alloys, but alfa have used the design for years, there is a similar look to alloys on the 156 and the gtv, they were known as 'teledials' because the design resembled a telephone dial

 

[andypj]

It's not only the wheels that will add weight, the tyres do too - and it's suprising the difference in tyre weights for the same dimensions - 215/45/17 - Bridgestone 10.91kg, Michelin Pilot Sport 9.56kg, Yokohama S-Drive 11.18kg - Thats 1.5kg (or about 3lb in old money) between brands per wheel!

 

[andypj]

Altering wheel size is also affecting the gearing of the car so larger wheels will affect mpg and performance.

2 inch's isn't a massive difference (as i keep telling the wife) but it is a difference.

The rolling radius of the wheel/tyre combo has to be pretty much the same (within 3%). It's more about the gap between the rim and the wheel arch Remember wheels make up to 25% of the side profile of the car, so different wheels will definitely change the look of the car.

 

[Guest]

The rolling radius of the wheel/tyre combo has to be pretty much the same (within 3%). It's more about the gap between the rim and the wheel arch Remember wheels make up to 25% of the side profile of the car, so different wheels will definitely change the look of the car.

I'm not talking about looks, people where asking how wheel size/weight could change performance and mpg.

As I said changing the wheel size is going to change the cars final gearing be it up or down.

 

[andypj]

As I said changing the wheel size is going to change the cars final gearing be it up or down.

Not necessarily, it depends upon the rolling radius of the wheel/tyre combo used:

16" wheel to 19" wheel no change in rolling radius if going from 205/55/16 to 215/35/19. No change in gearing, up or down.

15" wheel to 17" wheel no change in rolling radius if going from 195/65/15 to 225/45/17. No change in gearing, up or down.

This of course takes no account of the difference in sizes of the specific tyre as they change from brand to brand or of course whether it is worn or not, that itself reduces the rolling radius by up to 6.4mm.

 

[Guest]

Not necessarily, it depends upon the rolling radius of the wheel/tyre combo used:

16" wheel to 19" wheel no change in rolling radius if going from 205/55/16 to 215/35/19. No change in gearing, up or down.

15" wheel to 17" wheel no change in rolling radius if going from 195/65/15 to 225/45/17. No change in gearing, up or down.

This of course takes no account of the difference in sizes of the specific tyre as they change from brand to brand or of course whether it is worn or not, that itself reduces the rolling radius by up to 6.4mm.

Ok changing the rolling radius! is changing the gearing and thus changes performance and mpg.
You have thought about this in to deeply, do you design tyres or something?

 

[Guest]

I'm not talking about looks, people where asking how wheel size/weight could change performance and mpg.

As I said changing the wheel size is going to change the cars final gearing be it up or down.

The reduced profile of the tyres between 16, 17 and 18"s fitted to the Mito's standard alloys, means that the actual size of the tyre, aka radius, is pretty much exactly the same. Although the 18" inch alloy is much larger than the 16" inch one, the trade off is that the tyre is smaller. 55 profile on the 16"s (I think) compared with 40's for the 18"s.

so put Mito alloys side by side and they will actually be same size regardless of which alloys the owner has. (....well....as near as makes no difference anyways....to my understanding...)