Rotational Mass - My Choice - Need Feedback

[lundgren]

It's time to get wheels for the Elise.

I can get either of these:
Rota Slipstreams: $650 for the set, fronts 13.5 lbs, rear 17.5
or
SSR Comps: $1416 for the set (requires spacers), fronts 11 lbs, rear 13.5

(Stock wheels are 13 lbs front, 14.5 lbs rear.

Now, the Rota's are a GOOD DEAL, but they are a bit heaver than stock, and a even more than the more epensive Rota's. Both are March deliveries.

Is the increase weight on the rota's for my little torqueless motor large enough to make a difference?

Please advise from experience. If it was my vette, I'd not be concerned, because it had the torque to turn anything, but in the Elise, I might be more concerned.. should I be at that price?

[MrPickles]

If you are wanting to save weight, the wheels is best place where the results of the weight are noticable. I would go SSR only because being in stock class, any amount of weight you can legally shed...would be good.

[S Abshire]

Having only driven low horsepower/low torque cars at autocross and having had four different sets of wheels for my Focus and two for the Civic, I say it is noticable. Your Elise should have more power than either of my cars but it will be noticable. I used to regret driving the Focus after having switched out from the autocross rims (13.5lb team dynamics) to the stock wheels (17lb) for daily driving, Acceleration from a stop is where I noticed it most.

I would suggest pay the money and get the SSRs if you want to be competitive. Is this what the guys at nationals had?

[Proxenus]

If you intend on being competitive, buy the best. SSRs are expensive, but from what I've seen they hold most of their value.

I noticed a difference on my civic changing from 10.2lb wheels to 9.4lb.

[kirstein]

Jeff,
It's not just rotational mass, but unsprung mass also. Heavier wheels take a bit more damping to control over bumps. It may be a small difference, but it's something else to consider.

[lundgren]

So 3 lbs on a 30 lb corner is enough to warrant it.

I was thinking maybe get one of the 'heavier' ones for rain tires, then the SSR's for dry... but I hate to have two different kinds incase I need to mix n match for tread.

[00 SS]

Jeff,

An old drag racing saying goes like this, 10 pounds out of rotating mass = 100 pounds out of normal weight. I'm not sure it's exactly accurate, but get the lightest wheels you can afford. I'm not sure if or how they will effect cornering differently from normal weight, but they will definaly effect acceleration and decelleration. I can even notice reduction in accelleration in second gear from my street wheels to my race wheels. Braking is still beter on race rubber even with the heavier setup. My race wheel/tire combo is about 5 pouns heavier per corner than my street wheel/tire combo.

I've seriously been concidersing SSR's for my car, they are about 5 pound per wheel lighter than the ones I have now.

[Eric Pollock]

From what I've seen it's the SSR's that are the hands down rims to have and having two or more full sets for your car. Currently I've seen and heard that National Comp. guys have two sets one with dry and the other with wet setup. It can get expensive, but it's worth it with weight savings in the long haul.

[PaulL]

If the SSR's are only $1400 for a set of 4, then get 2 sets (wet, dry).
That is not very expensive, at all, for a high performance, lightweight wheel.
No contest, in my opinion.
You can probably skip the titanium lug nuts, though.
That's where I draw the line.

[LoCore]

Switching from the stock Celica GT-S wheels to Kosei K1 racings resulted in a noticeable change; I did get quicker. The stock wheels were pretty heavy; the resulting weight savings was around 5-6# corner, IIRC.

I spent almost $2K for the M3's SSRs (18x9). I picked up a set of BBS RCs that are 18x8.5, and the same weight as the SSRs for the "second set" (thanks to Box Dixon).

[Jake Latham]

On the Radical, changing from the ~13# Radical wheels to the ~8# Kodiaks is a huge difference in acceleration, both in laptimes, and the keister-meter.

As a corrolary argument, if you get the lighter wheels, you won't be second guessing yourself later. You end up forgetting few hundred bucks difference when you buy something, but you stay stuck with whatever you buy. Go for the lightest you think you can swing, and you won't grumble later.

Since you've run Circle and CCW wheels previously - is there a reason you're not considering CCW, Circle, or Kodiaks for the Elise?

-Jake

[lundgren]

Stock Wheels (3-4k), SSR and just now these Rota's, are the ONLY options.

I think the 2nd guessing part is the most important.

[kwenzel]

Stock Wheels (3-4k), SSR and just now these Rota's, are the ONLY options.

Kodiak (and generally any of the three-piece custom racing wheel manufacturers) will almost certainly be able to make you a wheel that fits the Elise (and meets the stock wheel rule). You tell them what dimensions you need via a form like this one:

http://www.kodiakracingwheels.com/kodiak%20spec%20sheet.pdf

[Jake Latham]

Kevin beat me to it.

I even had Kodiak build me just some wider outer shells to widen a set of wheels by a few inches, and the cost wasn't any higher than their normal "off the shelf" parts.

Price for the Kodiaks was about $340 per wheel in my sizes, although they may be more expensive in larger than 13" diameters :D

-Jake

[Van]

What was Junior running at Nationals last year? I saw his SS FTD run on Wednesday and it was AMAZING! Didn't pay attention to the wheels though.

Have you looked around to find used SSR's? Maybe Lotus forums or something like that? I say get teh SSR's.

A few months of Ramen noodles and you're good to go! :)

[MrPickles]

What was Junior running at Nationals last year? I saw his SS FTD run on Wednesday and it was AMAZING! Didn't pay attention to the wheels though.

Have you looked around to find used SSR's? Maybe Lotus forums or something like that? I say get teh SSR's.

A few months of Ramen noodles and you're good to go! :)

Junior's car was running SSR comps.

[lundgren]

That's because SSR Comps are the only option other than the stock wheels, up until the rota's this last week.

I ordered the SSR Comps though

[jhadler]

I would think most of the higher end custom wheel builders would certainly be able to make wheels for the Lotus. May not be -quite- as light as the SSR's though...

-Josh2

[lundgren]

I would think most of the higher end custom wheel builders would certainly be able to make wheels for the Lotus. May not be -quite- as light as the SSR's though...

-Josh2

Maybe but nobody who drives Elises has em.. not sure why.

[kwenzel]

Maybe but nobody who drives Elises has em.. not sure why.

It's more common to buy three-piece custom wheels in street prepared (and up), because you don't find too many off-the-shelf examples of wheels that properly exploit the unlimited wheel size allowances. Popular stock class cars tend to have a reasonable selection of lightweight wheels after being on the market for a while, so I think it's just not something that occurs to stock class people.

Plus, there's the problem that nearly all three-piece custom racing wheel manufacturers can be... difficult to deal with, and have reasonably complex ordering procedures (i.e., you need to do your own research to find out how far from the wheel mounting surface your calipers are, etc). But they can generally build a wheel to fit any car.