Story and Photos by Alan Cesar
We always hear that lightweight wheels are better. Reducing unsprung mass theoretically helps a car’s suspension work more effectively. Reducing rotating mass should make the car accelerate and stop faster as well.
But how big of an effect is this? We’ve compared light and heavy wheels a few times before, and the results consistently showed a negligible difference in autocross times–even with extreme differences in wheel weight. Of course, autocross testing involves a lot of variables, including changing track conditions and driver fatigue.
We thought we’d give it one more shot with some different test methods. We took our little yellow LeMons race car–yes, a little foreshadowing–two sets of wheels and tires, and an AiM Sports Solo DL to our test track, the Florida International Rally and Motorsports Park. We’d use their kart track to compare lap times, then run a few zero-to-60 blasts up one of the main…
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