Wheel Spacers & un-laden weight...
 

Quick question chaps - probably one for PL and JD.

I am having thoughts about running spacers on my 2002S. I currently have the 18" Carrera LW's. Thought it would be nice to bring them out a little and stop that kind of old VW Beetle look with the wheels buried in the wells.

However (back to the weight issue - i seem to have a thing about weight!!) - will adding spacers defeat the object of LW wheels by adding to the unladen weight.

Physics tell me the lighter the weight the drive train has to spin, the quicker they will spin up and hence better acceleration? I have seen posts where talk of wheels being the heaviest cast wheels around etc etc - so i figure there is something in the weight issue and therefore should i avoid adding the unnecessary weight just for a few mm of extra track width?

Sure, you are going to add additional un-sprung weight with the spacers. The question is, are you that good of a driver to notice? Are you pushing your Porsche 8/10's? 9/10's......were it might start to matter.

Unless you are interested in spinning your tires, the issue of unladen/unsprung weight has less to do with acceleration than handling and ride. Increased weight that is 'unsprung' - i.e., the wheels, tires and brakes (unless they are inboard), leads to increased upwards and downwards momentum of the wheels over irregularities in the road. So yes, the spacers will increase unsprung/unladen weight, at least partially defeating the purpose of light-weight wheels. They will also change your suspension geometry, increasing torque on the suspension components (remember the lever principle - the 'lever', with the suspension pivot points as the fulcrum, will now be longer). The difference may not be dramatic (depending upon the size of the spacers), but why sacrifice performance for appearance?

Brad

A 10mm spacer weighs about 10 ounces. Very small in terms of unsprung weight. Plus, all of the weight is very close to the center of rotation and thus, adds very little to slowing rotational acceleration. I would not worry about it on a street car.

Ditto ! +1

As ever Gentlemen thanks for the considered responses.

This is the point where i retire, work through the options and then jump one way or the other.

:cheers:

You will never notice the change in weight, or minor suspension geometry change, and no, it won't hurt your wheel bearings either.