Wheel weight

[Ben Fenner]

This is an excerpt from an e-mail I've sent to Peter Serwe. There's some
info inside there and a task for someone with a bare (no tire) stock wheel.

"I weighed a stock wheel today with the OEM Dunlop tires at 98% tread with
valve stem, balance weigh, ect. and it came to 33 and 3/8th lbs. on the
trusty pumkin scale. That's 3 and 3/8ths lbs. heavier than the panasport
option. [30 lbs.]
>From everything I've read the stock wheel is 14 lbs. but I'm having my
doubts on that. I want to weigh one myself or have someone else on the list
get some tangable number."

And here is a quote from Wayne Cox about his Kosei Wheels:

"T.R. claims the 15x7 K-1s are 12.5 - 13.0 lbs/ea.  I think that's pretty
accurate.  The combo, with balancing weights and valve stems is 34lbs.  I
had a chance to weight a fresh tire by itself, and it was 22."

So Wayne, you're running ever so slightly heavier than stock. Not bad for
the added width and other gains. I want to dissagree with T.R.'s claim of 13
lbs for the wheel though. The panasport UL 15x7 is 14 lbs and a 205/50-15
tire (Kumho Exsta Supra) is 16 lbs. That's 30 lbs total. Your tire is 22
lbs.?! If that's true than I guess your wheels are 12 lbs.? Why is your tire
so much heavier than mine? Maybe I'm not disagreeing with anything, I just
don't think the numbers add up somewhere.
The point I'm trying to come to is that I think wheel weights are rarely
advertized correctly and are usually stated lighter than they actually are.
Even factory claims seem rounded off to the lowest pound. I want to know if
this assumption holds up.

-Ben
1994 Sentra SE-R