Wheel weight and dilemma - '09 Touring Sport (w/pics!) Options

[dbradley]

Hey All,

So this fall I picked up a 2009 Touring GLS Sport from a local dealer. Came with the stock 17" alloys...nice looking, but heavy at 24lbs each if my research is correct. Also came with bald, original Kuhmo tires:



Given the winter-ish conditions up here in Canada I decided to get a set of Hyundai-supplied aftermarket alloy rims and Hankook I*cept EVO performance winters:



Hell of a combo. Great performing winters.

The OEM wheels and tires ride really harsh...I don't mind the ride of the 16" wheels at all, and they look pretty badass. I need new summers, so I have two options:

1. Put a set of Continental ExtremeContact DW's on the 17" OEM alloys and keep my winter setup as is
2. Put summers on the 16" rims and sell my 17" rims for replacement next fall with a more winter worthy setup.

My thinking is that the OEM 17: alloys are heavy, and not worth their weight and extra tire expense. Those gunmetal rims probably weigh about 6-8 lbs less each and the ride definitely doesn't suffer.

Thoughts?

[Vinnie]

Hey welcome!

Excellent first post.

I like those 16's!!

I'd keep the 16's for summer - those look sweet.

Sell the 17's and get some steel black wheels for a winter setup.

Selling the 17's if they are in good condition will bring you pretty close to all steels with tires. Still heavy but in the winter it doesn't matter.

You have TMPS but that wont matter either during the winter.

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/results.jsp...odClar=Standard

[afob3]

I really like those 16's. Especially since they are oem. I don't recal seeing them before.

[RPW00Mirage]

i'd keep the 16s as-is with your winters and replace the tires on the OEM 17s.

[Alex2013GT]

Tough decision. I like the look of the stock wheels, but have to say even though they are slightly smaller, I prefer the look of the 16's. It might help if there was a full side profile shot with the 16's from a little bit away, but I think I'd be leaning more towards the 16's. Welcome to the club!

[dbradley]

Thanks all :-) I'll snap a profile pic of the 16's tomorrow. They are Hyundai specific "winter" rims manufactured or distributed by Fast Wheels in Canada, model hyel-088.

Interesting mix of opinions! I'm as yet undecided!

[dbradley]

Sorry for the blurr...dark and rainy here today. For me, the real question is whether performance will be even noticeably better with lightweight 205/55r16 versus the heavier 215/45r17's.





This post has been edited by dbradley: Mar 14 2013, 10:50 PM

[elantragt]

You mentioned the harshness of the 45 series tires, so right there the 55 series will ride smoother. And by using lighter 16" wheels and tires you've reduced unsprung weight and rotational weight which means the suspension will work better and there might be a small performance gain as well.

Reducing unsprung weight allows the springs and shock absorbers to be more effective in controlling the suspension's movement. Additionally, a vehicle's rotational weight includes all parts that spin including everything in the vehicle's driveline from the engine's crankshaft to its wheels and tires. This affects the energy required to change speed as the vehicle accelerates and brakes. As you would guess, reducing the weight of any of these rotating components will enhance the vehicle's performance because less energy will be required to increase or decrease their speed.

source: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=108&

[Snakoil]

those are nice wheels, I would keep the 16" wheels
I also use 16 for winters and the ride is just much better
Those 17" with 45 tires are so harsh it sort of kills the car

[THEdexaTRON]

I'd keep the winter set up for the 16's as is. Since you don't like the ride of the 17's, I'd sell them and get another rim/tire combo in 16's