does gas mileage differ for standard 1LT and 1LT with RS

[2 2]

Originally Posted by bindhasbuddy

thank you for the quick replies.

i always thought, any vehicle gives less mileage as the wheel size increases. Is my logic wrong?

Ya your right but we are talking such a small diffrence... at that point you could argue the spoiler that you get the with RS will help for the difference in wheel size changes.... go with the RS you will regret not getting it if you want even just one thing with that the RS has it is cheaper to get the package IMO

[VTXrider]

Originally Posted by bindhasbuddy

thank you for the quick replies.

i always thought, any vehicle gives less mileage as the wheel size increases. Is my logic wrong?

Normally you would be right although a relatively small difference. The difference is more noticeable in the loss of performance as you get larger wheels. In this case the LS wheels are so heavy that they are actually worse than the 20" RS wheels.

But in normal terms an 18" wheel of the same material will weigh much less than a 20" wheel of the same material. The 18" wheel will give better braking, acceleration, and MPGs

[WildL16]

Originally Posted by VTXrider

Normally you would be right although a relatively small difference. The difference is more noticeable in the loss of performance as you get larger wheels. In this case the LS wheels are so heavy that they are actually worse than the 20" RS wheels.

But in normal terms an 18" wheel of the same material will weigh much less than a 20" wheel of the same material. The 18" wheel will give better braking, acceleration, and MPGs

According to the tire section of the forum the LS steel wheel + tire combo are actually lighter by a couple pounds than the RS 20's. On the other hand, the 1LT wheels/tires are quite a bit lighter than both the LS and RS wheels.. about 48 pounds lighter for the entire set (than the RS)...which is quite a bit when that is rotational mass. It may not make that large of a difference though.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51143

LT wheels will be better for performance, but the RS 20's sure do look awesome.

[VTXrider]

Originally Posted by WildL16

According to the tire section of the forum the LS steel wheel + tire combo are actually lighter by a couple pounds than the RS 20's. On the other hand, the 1LT wheels/tires are quite a bit lighter than both the LS and RS wheels.. about 48 pounds lighter for the entire set (than the RS)...which is quite a bit when that is rotational mass. It may not make that large of a difference though.

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51143

LT wheels will be better for performance, but the RS 20's sure do look awesome.

I don't remember the number but there is a huge multiplier effect in converting rotational weight to static weight. I want to say it was equivalent to to 5 to 1. If this was the case, 48 pounds would be like reducing the weight of the car by 250 pounds. That's pretty significant! This is why you see people replacing the drive shaft with Aluminum or carbon fiber drive shafts to save a few pounds.

Add to this the fact that rims and tires are unsprung weight and there will be a big effect on handling, I'd say there could be a big difference.

All that said, the RS rims are sweet and that is what I would do.

Also the weight issues all assume that you had the same tires on the car which you don't unless you toss the stock BF Goodrich tires that come with the 1LT and get PZeros. Otherwise you won't get any of the above performance benefits as your tires would more than cancel out any gains.

On the other hand, your original question was one of economics not performance... I think. In that case, the 1LT rims and tires probably will get you slightly better MPG as they are lighter and probably a much harder tire compound. This can not be compared by asking on this forum as real world differences will out weigh the gains. Also the 1LT tires will probably last near twice as long and cost half as much to replace. So on pure economics that might be a good choice.




Go with the RS

[Trevorw24]

Nope

[007s 'Vert]

Originally Posted by VTXrider

On the other hand, your original question was one of economics not performance... I think. In that case, the 1LT rims and tires probably will get you slightly better MPG as they are lighter and probably a much harder tire compound. This can not be compared by asking on this forum as real world differences will out weigh the gains. Also the 1LT tires will probably last near twice as long and cost half as much to replace. So on pure economics that might be a good choice.




Go with the RS

That is pretty much what I was trying to say, I noticed compared to others with V6s in here that have RSs, my car (non RS, 1LT) seems to be getting better mileage than most other V6s but by just a couple miles per gallon. And I have priced around and the tires on my 18" rims are quite a bit cheaper to replace than the 20" P-Zeros. Ya I like the looks of the RS rims but I am not one of those types that has to have big fancy rims with thin tires, I like a decent set of rims with normal looking tires, and with all the miles that I put on my car, this set up works perfect and looks really nice to me as well, my rims remind me of the older IROC rims. They handle great and if you end up getting a 1LT then you will be pretty happy with them. But like most folks in here, it is easy to read and read and read on, next thing you know you are giving into peer pressure and springing for the RS model, nothing wrong with that though........after all it's your money.
I have never really been interested in anything that comes in an RS package although I kinda like the HUD idea, but not enough to pay another $2000 for, when I can just buy the HUD for around $600 bux and a case of beer to give to my buddy for helping me out installing it. I don't like leather interior, could care less for the halo lights, dont care for the tire/rims combo.
heck the only thing I ended up adding isnt even included in the RS package and that is the heritage grill(that grill SHOULD be included in the RS package)

[zogster]

Wheels and tires can most definitely matter. I would get 19-20mpg in city driving in my 2LT (no RS) and when I put on the heritage steel wheels and winter tires, it went down to 17-18. I took my winter wheels off on Saturday and put the 2LT wheels back on, and I'm currently at 20.4mpg in town.

Also, 40 lbs off rotational weight is like 80lbs of dead weight.

I'm guessing the PZeros are quite a bit stickier than the non-RS tires. That's pretty much the opposite of "low rolling resistance." Not that it's a bad thing, it's just bad for gas mileage.

[PercyJWellingtonIII]

yes...the 1LT is lighter....by a few ounces. So yes the mileage would be better. Is it noticable no. Probably good for another 6 inches.

[Flashpoint135]

I have a 1LT non RS. I bought LS steel rims with snow tires for winter. I do tons of driving. I don't care about mileage, but did notice that it seemed to drop 1 or 2 MPG after I put the Steel rims on. When I went back to the 1LT rims / tires a few weeks ago, it did go back up. While I do not consider between 1 and 2 MPG to be important, there was a difference that was measureable - just not much at all. I'm talking about the averag MPG over lots of miles, so the other variables are not skewing the data or anything. So zogster and I got similar results with the weight change, hope that helps OP.