LT Wheels VS SS Wheels

[LoneStar]

Originally Posted by Lumix

Hummm...
I thought the heritage wheels were the lightest of all five types.
Anyone know for sure?

The heritage wheels are the same weight at the RS or SS wheels. The lightest weight wheels are the 18" aluminum wheels that come with the 1LT.

[rolnslo]

Originally Posted by LoneStarCamaro

The heritage wheels are the same weight at the RS or SS wheels. The lightest weight wheels are the 18" aluminum wheels that come with the 1LT.

Correct. The 1LT 18" wheel/tire combo is the lightest of all the options. At 23lbs for the wheel and 30lbs for the tire, this is at least 9lbs less than any other choice from the factory.

[Agent WD-40]

Originally Posted by KEEP RT

Actually your stopping the car. The larger Dia. rims and tires applying more torque only if the final Dia. is larger sense the 20" rim has a lower profile tire. Just sayin.

There is a bit more to this. You also need to look at the moment of inerta (which is sort of like the rotational equivalent to weight). Two different wheel and tire packages with the same diameter can exert different different torques. Obviously heavier wheels are harder to spin or stop but the way the mass is distributed about the hub also affects things. The more mass pushed out toward the outside of the wheel the harder it is to spin. In general pushing the metal of the rim to the outside of the diameter is bad.

The Moment of inerta for a cylindrical shell (oversimplified tire) is I=mr^2. So the further the mass is from the center the larger the moment of inerta. The moment increases with the square of radius. So it gets worse squared.

For an example of this take a stick (like a broom handle) put two weights on the ends and spin it. Now move the weights to the middle where you are spinning it from. It will be a lot easierto spin even though the weight and diameter isthe same.

[midnighter]

You should get 1984 stock Corvette wheels like these...

[esperman]

Originally Posted by rolnslo

Correct. The 1LT 18" wheel/tire combo is the lightest of all the options. At 23lbs for the wheel and 30lbs for the tire, this is at least 9lbs less than any other choice from the factory.

most will disagree, but I like the 1LT 18" wheels. Seems like everyone has the 20" RS wheels.

[justa25thTA]

Originally Posted by esperman

most will disagree, but I like the 1LT 18" wheels. Seems like everyone has the 20" RS wheels.

Well I actually love the steel heritage wheels.

[Lumix]

Originally Posted by esperman

most will disagree, but I like the 1LT 18" wheels. Seems like everyone has the 20" RS wheels.

I like the 18 inch aluminum wheels too. That's something I really wanted. The 20's look great...but they're soooo common. Every camaro on the road has them. And I'm from the old school...never really warmed up to the over-sized wheel look. I think a little sidewall looks more appropriate, although some may disagree. And since they're all the same size, they can be rotated.
I was curious about the weight too, because the 20's look much bigger/heavier, and have so much more mass that they must be harder to stop.