>The lightest wheels I have found are Volk TE37s. In that size they weigh
>about 10lbs. I just ordered my set on Santa's behalf.
Weigh them when you get them. I think you'll find them to be in the 12
pound range, in real live pounds versus Japanese Volk pounds. Still very
light, but I really have no idea where they get the numbers on their web
page. I have a pair of 15X7's on the rear of the MR2, and they are about
11 pounds each. I had a pair of 15X6's (which unfortunately do not fit the
two cars I know of which would use that size, offset, and bolt pattern due
to caliper clearance problems) which weighed in at 9.5 pounds, as opposed
to their claims of 8 pounds. I am sure the 16X7 isn't going to be lighter
than the 15X7, but I'm not sure how much heavier they will be. These
wheels are apparently extremely strong despite their light weight, which is
a big plus - some of the 3-piece modulars (can you say "Revolution"?) are
pretty marginal for a stock-weight vehicle. The big drawback to the Volks
is the rather limited selection of sizes, offsets, and bolt patterns they
make, though I believe most have a flat hub area, so they could be
custom-drilled to another bolt pattern by an enterprising soloist. Prices
are not bad, especially considering the strength and weight. They are MUCH
more expensive than AR wheels, but are nowhere near what someone like BBS
wants. I haven't found anything lighter that I'd really want to run on a
3000 pound vehicle.
Bogart makes many of the parts for several of the other 3-piece modular
wheels out there (CCW, LightSpeed, etc), so they are all going to be pretty
similar in weight and availability. The big drawback to these is the
limitations on offset that they can make with the centers they have. What
this means to most Stock-class competitors is that they can't use 3-piece
wheels. They could just ALMOST make 15X7 wheels with a 40mm offset. They
were nowhere close on the 40mm offset 6" wheel for the front of the MR2 or
for a new Miata. Gary Thomason did get Monocoque to make him a set of
wheels for his Miata, but he said they were absurdly expensive. I assume
they had to custom-make the centers. I would be interested to know what
they weigh, and how their strength compares to something like the
TE-37. Volk does make a 15X6 to fit the Miatas, and I assume it would be
the same weight as the 15X6 nearly-MR2 wheel. As someone mentioned,
though, these do have to be custom-ordered, which may be 90 days. These
can be had for just over $300 per wheel. Interestingly, they do make a
14X5 which would have been really popular back when the '88 CRX was the hot
DS car - those probably weigh between 6 and 7 pounds. Unfortunately, they
do not make a 14X5.5, which would be in big demand for the 1st-gen Miatas
next year.
One of the advantages a modular wheel has over a 1-piece is that the rim
halves are usually made of spun material, which means they are formed from
thin sheet metal, making them very light. This is out where the weight
matters most, so this is a Good Thing. The drawback is that they are
generally not as stiff as a 1-piece wheel, and are prone to bending (though
they can often be repaired since each part is generally replacable) and to
leaking (some brands worse than others). Another advantage to the modular
wheel is that they are generally available in a wide variety of sizes and
offsets (with the above-mentioned limitations). This is very handy for the
SP crowd wanting REALLY wide wheels, since those are not generally
available in 1-piece wheels.
It just happens that the two brands of wheels I sell are Volk and Bogart,
which are the two brands which I've seen mentioned in this discussion, so I
took the opportunity to pipe up. I won't claim to be an expert, but I do
have some good contacts (the guys at the Volk importer are NOT the ones I'm
talking about.) I do find all of them to be very pretty wheels. Not a
big concern to most of us, but it beats the alternative.
Paul Brown
Not to be taken as official word on ANYTHING. SCAC, SEB, Isotope Racing
Wheels, or anything else.
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