As the kids grow older, the Alza was hitting the country side more often for holiday trips. The road surface at the rural area was quite uneven with lots of patches here and there. This was made worse, which I believe, by the light Advanti rim. Driving on these roads at 90 km/h was quite torturing with the bumps and harshness transmitted into the cabin and I could feel the tyre was on the verge of losing traction. Changing to new shock absorbers didn't quite settle this matter.
A little bit of internet research led me to this key word "vertical acceleration". To cut to the chase, light rim increases the vertical acceleration of the suspension and the tendency for the wheel to move vertically over the slightest bump. This is what I am experiencing now, the continuous micro vibrations although the road surface looks fine with me. This is completely absence in the Mazda 2 running on stock rims.
Yes, we all heard of the benefits running on light rims like reducing the unsprung weight, better acceleration etc. but how much is the benefit? Well, based on the test done on this website, www.hotrod.com, the improved acceleration is too little to be felt for daily sane driving. Excerpt of their test is below:
Based on my experience, the trade-off like ride discomfort, loss of high speed stability, loss of traction on uneven surface at high speed far outweigh that little benefits in terms of acceleration and steering responsiveness. So, the lesson here is, the internet is full of marketing people and will sweet talk all sorts of modification to make you part your money for that little benefit. They are not cheating but merely telling half truths.
As always, modification is a form of experimentation. Don't spend unnecessary money on experiments when the car company has already done its research to get the best set up. And rim upgrade is a major upgrade as it is a major component of the suspension. Do more research on how the rim weight and offset affects suspension behaviour before committing.
All is not lost. Light rims do have its benefits. One obvious thing I felt is that the Alza will keep on rolling and rolling with its momentum after I have lifted from the throttle without much speed loss compared to the Mazda 2. That is something amazing and could provide some fuel saving.
A little bit of internet research led me to this key word "vertical acceleration". To cut to the chase, light rim increases the vertical acceleration of the suspension and the tendency for the wheel to move vertically over the slightest bump. This is what I am experiencing now, the continuous micro vibrations although the road surface looks fine with me. This is completely absence in the Mazda 2 running on stock rims.
Yes, we all heard of the benefits running on light rims like reducing the unsprung weight, better acceleration etc. but how much is the benefit? Well, based on the test done on this website, www.hotrod.com, the improved acceleration is too little to be felt for daily sane driving. Excerpt of their test is below:
We were more interested in dragstrip acceleration, so we tested traditional rally wheels from Wheel Vintiques (which makes reproduction rallies in numerous sizes) against lightweight Center Line wheels on our 502-powered Mean Street
Chevelle. For consistency, we used the same size/type rear tires (Mickey Thompson E.T. Street 26x10.5-15) mounted on 15x8-inch steel and aluminum rims. Up front we tested both 15x7- and 15x4-inch rims in steel and aluminum with the same diameter tires (to not affect rollout). Did the lightweight goods really make a difference? Check out the results box. A huge thanks to L.A.-based Flip's Tires which, as always, did all our mounting and balancing muy pronto.
Test Configurations
Test 1
(2) 15x7 rally with BFG P215/60R15 = 95.56 lbs.
(2) 15x8 rally with M/T 26x10.5-15 = 93.70 lbs.
Total weight = 189.26 lbs
e.t. and mph = 12.137@111.99
Test 1
(2) 15x7 rally with BFG P215/60R15 = 95.56 lbs.
(2) 15x8 rally with M/T 26x10.5-15 = 93.70 lbs.
Total weight = 189.26 lbs
e.t. and mph = 12.137@111.99
Test 2
(2) 15x4 rally with M/T 26x7.5-15 = 70.86 lbs.
(2) 15x8 rally with M/T 26x10.5-15 = 93.70 lbs.
Total weight = 164.56 lbs.
e.t. and mph = 12.107@112.52
(2) 15x4 rally with M/T 26x7.5-15 = 70.86 lbs.
(2) 15x8 rally with M/T 26x10.5-15 = 93.70 lbs.
Total weight = 164.56 lbs.
e.t. and mph = 12.107@112.52
Test 3
(2) 15x7 Center Line with BFG P215/60R15 = 70.46 lbs.
(2) 15x8 Center Line with M/T 26x10.5-15 = 64.10 lbs.
(4) Center Line center caps = 0.96 lb.
Total weight = 135.52 lbs.
e.t. and mph = 12.103@112.10
(2) 15x7 Center Line with BFG P215/60R15 = 70.46 lbs.
(2) 15x8 Center Line with M/T 26x10.5-15 = 64.10 lbs.
(4) Center Line center caps = 0.96 lb.
Total weight = 135.52 lbs.
e.t. and mph = 12.103@112.10
Test 4
(2) 15x4 Center Line with M/T 26x4.5-15 = 42.12 lbs.
(2) 15x8 Center Line with M/T 26x10.5-15 = 64.1 lbs.
(4) Center Line center caps = 0.96 lb.
Total weight = 107.18 lbs.
e.t. and mph = 12.026@113.11
(2) 15x4 Center Line with M/T 26x4.5-15 = 42.12 lbs.
(2) 15x8 Center Line with M/T 26x10.5-15 = 64.1 lbs.
(4) Center Line center caps = 0.96 lb.
Total weight = 107.18 lbs.
e.t. and mph = 12.026@113.11
Total weight reduction = 82.08 lbs.
Total performance gain = -0.111 sec, +1.12 mph
Total performance gain = -0.111 sec, +1.12 mph
Based on my experience, the trade-off like ride discomfort, loss of high speed stability, loss of traction on uneven surface at high speed far outweigh that little benefits in terms of acceleration and steering responsiveness. So, the lesson here is, the internet is full of marketing people and will sweet talk all sorts of modification to make you part your money for that little benefit. They are not cheating but merely telling half truths.
As always, modification is a form of experimentation. Don't spend unnecessary money on experiments when the car company has already done its research to get the best set up. And rim upgrade is a major upgrade as it is a major component of the suspension. Do more research on how the rim weight and offset affects suspension behaviour before committing.
All is not lost. Light rims do have its benefits. One obvious thing I felt is that the Alza will keep on rolling and rolling with its momentum after I have lifted from the throttle without much speed loss compared to the Mazda 2. That is something amazing and could provide some fuel saving.
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