Steel wheels and unsprung weight...

I love the look of steel wheels and dog dish/trim ring hubcaps. I also like the look(and weight) of welds. I was wondering if the weight difference of the steel wheels would effect my 60' enough to sweat it. Any thoughts?

 

depnds on how fast your going....but more than likely, if your not dead set on ultimate performance, the difference will be minimal.

 

Well, I plan on an honest 450rwhp, and launches off a 2 step, so I plan opn running pretty quick. But the car will be 99% street driven.

 

I'd see if I could find a deal on Front Runner wheels/tires. Obviously, you'll gain the most with that setup.

I dunno if you change your rear tires at the track or not, but changing out the front wheels won't be that big of a deal if you're already changing out the back ones.

 

Well, I dont want to change my wheels at the track, so two sets is out of the question. I plan on running drag radials no matter what wheels I end up with...I think I may just run the steel wheels and see what kind of times I can get with them. If I can run 10.99s with them, Ill be happy. my goal is a 10 second daily driver, so we will see how that pans out...

 

There are very slight performance benefits in acceleration and handling with lighter wheels, but the biggest performance difference is in the braking...

 

Unsprung weight is a big deal in accelleration, braking, and handling.
I am like TL though, it will be biggest benefit on braking.
We all know that you want to be safe during that 99% of the time that you are on the street!
The better times and handling are just gravy.
Dave

 

Good bits of info Another thing to consider then is the fact that if I do run Welds they will be skinnies on the front. That will likely negate any benefit of lighter weight...Do steel wheels actually make that much difference in braking? I havent really heard that before now so Im curious...

 

Yes...

 

Interesting. Well here is another option...Do they make aluminum wheels that will allow me to run the dog dish hubcaps and trim rings?

 

Skinnies are horrible on the street.
Ask me how I know...

They will negate any gain in braking just by being so narrow.
All of your braking is up front.
When you have such a small patch of rubber on the road, they will lock up easy.
They also tend to understeer tremendously.
Many times I wanted to turn and kept going straight because there wasn't enough rubber to turn the car.
I highly recommend that you run stockers all around, then have a set of skinnies for the track.
If you already have your stock rims, and you would buy skinnies anyway, why not just buy the skinnies for the track and use your stockers day to day? Wouldn't cost you any more than you were considering anyway.
Dave

 

I still have my stockers but they are 14" rims and they are narrow. I want 15" rims, and I want 8" wides in the back. 5" or 6" wide in the front. Yeah, I figure skinnies suck on the street but damn do they look sweet

 

Well that is not what I consider a skinny rim.
I was thinking 15"x3" with 165s up front.
That is what I had for front runners.
If you run 5" wide with at least 195s, you will be a lot better off.
Dave

 

You guys have me for a loss of words here. My family has owned VW's in the past and NEVER have we had an issue with running the Michelin 165 R 15's on the 15X3in. factory stock steel wheels all the way around it. I guess the reason James Dean died was the factory skinny 15X3in. steel wheels on his Porsche speedster no braking huh.... Wow I am in trouble cause I have had skinny wheels on almost every car I have owned in the past 20 years without issue. I am sorry but I am calling BS to this.....


Bill

 

A little quick to call BS on someone else's experience there Billy boy...
There is a huge difference in a front engined domestic car and a Bug or Speedster.
I'd tend to call BS on someone who doesn't know that difference.
As light as the Maverick is, it is no doubt a totally different car with a lot of weight over the front tires, which are primary to braking on any car... Bug or otherwise.
My experience comes from 165s mounted on the front of a 69 Chevelle, which is even heavier than a Maverick, but closer to comparision than a Bug, of all things.
Dave