Anyone know the difference in weight of steel wheels vs alloys of the same girth?

I've looked at a few sites selling wheels and weight is hard to locate. I DID find one site where some alloys were in the 15-20 pound range and one manufacturer were down to 11 pounds!

 

I have a lot of questions about wheels; weight to strength to cost wise. I'd imagine an 11 pound wheel would be a bad choice for rallyX but?

Yeah I know, hard info to find huh. I would be more than satisfied with steel if it in only a few lbs heavier as they'd be easy to get ahold of for like $20 for 4 instead of $100+. An extra 5 lbs per wheel really isn't that much considering the tire weight can vary by abotu that.

http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/wheels.html

 

^ This link might help.

 

Steve :wave:

steelies are 20-26lbs

 

alloys are 15-17lbs

 

and i've rallied on both...

the OE steels and the OE Legacy Outback rims

are perfectly safe for rallying/rally play

 

hope this helps a bit.

cheers

Jamie

I realize you're posting on the newer gen side of things, but wouldn't it matter more depending on the size? I.E. - 13", 14", 15"?

if you're looking at performance driving note:

- steelies will weigh more than equivalent sized alloy (high unsprung weight not good)

- steelies are horrible for allowing air to cool brakes

- they flex more than alloys which will take away from your cars responsiveness

- however; if you smack a curb they're great!

The only way to go for off-road, though.

I cannot quantify it but when I rotated tires on my '01 Forester with the full-size spare on a steel rim, that spare was red-faced, white-knuckle, compound hernia HEAVY and the alloy road wheels with the same tire on 'em practically floated! I know it was more than 5 lbs difference. Dat was one heavy spare wheel!

Originally posted by CROSSTBOLT

I cannot quantify it but when I rotated tires on my '01 Forester with the full-size spare on a steel rim, that spare was red-faced, white-knuckle, compound hernia HEAVY and the alloy road wheels with the same tire on 'em practically floated! I know it was more than 5 lbs difference. Dat was one heavy spare wheel!

 

It feels like my winter tires on steel rims for my 01 Outback weigh about 20lbs more than the alloy wheels with their all season tires.

 

Also when the steel wheels/winter tires are on, the steering is much heavier, and the car rides a lot rougher, part of this is because of the tire design , but I think the weight plays a more significant role.

Originally posted by Nuwan

if you're looking at performance driving note:

- steelies will weigh more than equivalent sized alloy (high unsprung weight not good)

- steelies are horrible for allowing air to cool brakes

- they flex more than alloys which will take away from your cars responsiveness

- however; if you smack a curb they're great!

 

Perfectly agree with everything, short and sweet; especially loved the comment about the curb!

 

Here's another question though:

what is lighter:

 

-- 14" + 185x70x14

or

-- 16" + 205x45x16?

(both wheels are alloys and have relatively similar amount of metal in the spokes)

 

By the weight I can't really tell, both seem pretty darn heavy to dance around with, and I didn't get THAT curious to drag out the scale.

No way to know without a weight figure. IF they are the same design,alloy, manufacturer then the 14" will weigh less.

 

Probably not even 10% difference though.