Ultra lightweight alloys

[The Dogfather]

Who makes really lightweight alloys, suggestions please!

They're for the Brabus, I'm going for some 16"s to improve the handling and ride. The current 17" brabus ones are going to be refurbed and kept a spares, the roads near us are so bad they've ended up almost square.

[john]

http://www.enkei.com/

[The Dogfather]

Cheers John, pricey?

[Big Gordy]

Surely really lightweight alloys will get gubbed even quicker on the crap roads:eek::blackeye: :p:D:approve:

[The Dogfather]

Nah, I'm dropping to 16"s rather than 17"s

[zimbo]

Yup your 16s will get just as gubbed as your 17s especially if they're really light weight like your looking for.

[sh@z]

Don't mistake lightweight for weak.

Enkei, Advans, OZ, BBS, Volks.... can't really go wrong. Advan/Enkei/OZ are all big in racing too.

[The Dogfather]

The problem is the tyres are 30 profile and the potholes seem to be getting through the tyre to the rim. The extra 10mm of tyre should act as a cushion.

I'll have a look at the brands you've suggested, cheers

[sh@z]

Damn, 30 profile on a 17" rim... even the 19s I'm getting are going to have a 35.

Basically a lot of the lightweight wheels, which are sort of top end street car, track oriented wheels will be forged wheels, which make them a lot stronger, but inevitably more expensive. The majority of alloy wheels are cast, as this is a fairly cost effective way to make wheels, and you can basically have any design that you want.

Have a read - http://www.grmotorsports.com/news/012005/picking-the-right-wheels-for-you.php

It summarises both processes quite nicely. I'm pretty sure the lightweight wheels from the manufacturers I mentioned used Forged process for those wheels. Some of the wheels you're looking at £500 a corner without tyres :p


quote:Casting is a relatively inexpensive way to produce a high-quality, fairly strong alloy wheel; many aftermarket alloy wheels designed for street use are made this way.


quote:Unlike casting or machining (billet), forging uses intense heat and pressure to transform a slug of alloy material into the final shape of a wheel. Under this heat and pressure, the original grain structure of the stock material is forced from the center of the wheel towards the outer edge. This grain structure is even stronger than the one found in a billet wheel because it runs along the spokes and serves to further strengthen the forged wheel’s spokes, while the grain in a billet wheel simply runs through the spokes. Thanks to this process, a forged wheel can be up to 300 percent stronger than a cast wheel. Additionally, since forged aluminum is stronger than cast aluminum, less material is needed to produce the wheel, resulting in a lighter product.


quote:The payoff in forged wheels comes in weight and durability. These racing wheels certainly cost more, but are generally stronger and lighter than an equally-sized cast wheel. Plus, their multi-piece construction allows for custom offsets and the opportunity to be repaired as needed.

Hope this helps mate, gimme a shout if you need any more info. I had to go through all of this when I was picking my wheels.

[BJN]

Carbon Fibre Wheels (http://www.dymag.com/about.html)

[AeroJonny]

volk racing ;)

[sh@z]

quote:Originally posted by BJN

Carbon Fibre Wheels (http://www.dymag.com/about.html)


Yeah, if you wanna pay a grand a wheel ;)

And yeah AeroJonny, Volk Racing are awesome, in fact any of the RAYS line of wheels are awesome. :D But Advans are the best.... *cough*

[sleepyrascal]

OZ have a lightweight range.

[The Dogfather]

Oops, just noticed a typo in my earlier post. Shaz the fronts are a 40 not 30 profile as standard whilst the backs are 35.

I've gone from 205/40s on the front to 215/35 to protect the sides of the rims but in doing so I'm now getting impacts going right through the tyre. The backs are suffering the same way as well.

My intention is to go 205/45 R16s on the front and 225/45 R16s on the back. I'm hoping that by going for lightweight alloys I should be able to improve ride and handling.

[macblob]

You can get 225/45 R17s, thats what I run on my car.
Dunno if you would have any clearance issues though

[The Dogfather]

Brian, they would be too large, the front tyres already catch on the inner wings on full lock.

[macblob]

ahhhh ok mate, hence the extremely low profile